The Thief of Time
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: This is an ongoing story set in my War of the Guardians universe featuring the continuing adventures of Lady Christina de Souza. In the 1st chapter, Christina suddenly wakes up to find herself in a strange world where she meets a man named Merlin who keeps calling her Nimueh. How in the world did she get here and will she ever get back? Further chapters will have all new stories.
1. Trading Places

THE THIEF OF TIME

I do not own Doctor Who, Merlin, or Harry Potter and I am making no profit off of this.

**This story is a crossover between characters from my War of the Guardians universe for Doctor Who and my Merlin story, A Destiny Changed Forever. You won't have to read either of those to understand this story though as I'll explain things as I go along.**

Lady Christina de Souza had thought that nothing could surprise her anymore after having traveled with River Song and her husband, Donald Noble the Metacrisis Doctor for so long now. She was sadly mistaken though. The situation that she was currently finding herself in was certainly a new one on her.

Last night she had gone to sleep in her room on Donald and River's TARDIS and then this morning she had woken up to find herself in someplace completely different. She was now lying in a bed in what looked like a room inside of an ancient castle. She kept blinking as she wondered if she were having some kind of strange dream or not.

Then as she looked down at herself she realized that she was wearing strange clothing. It was like something out of a history book on the Dark Ages. She began to wonder immediately if she had somehow switched bodies with someone else, but the body looked exactly like her own so that couldn't be it. Could it?

"What is going on here? Lydia, if you've done this to me so help me I will kill you!" Christina shouted out loud.

Lydia was her best friend or to be more accurate she was the sister that she had never had. She traveled with River and Donald as well, and the two of them were partners in crime together wherever they went (Not literally of course. She didn't steal anymore. Donald had forbidden it, the party pooper!). They were practically inseparable, and they always got into huge amounts of trouble in their adventures together throughout time and space. Oh, and one other thing. Lydia was an Eternal, a member of a hugely powerful race of beings that could bend reality to their whim, although she had sworn never to use her powers again. She had broken that promise before though when she had wanted Christina to like her after she first came onboard the TARDIS.

She really hoped that this was just Lydia trying to make her happy in some way. At least then she would be safe since Lydia would never let anything happen to her. If this wasn't Lydia behind this though, then she was really in trouble since she had absolutely no idea where she was or how she had gotten here.

Worse than that, she had no idea if she could ever go back or not.

Then in the next moment, a young man with dark hair came into her room without knocking with a look of concern on his face. She smiled at him as she thought to herself that if she was trapped here that at least the scenery wouldn't be that bad.

"Nimueh, are you alright? I heard you screaming," the young man asked.

"Nimueh? I'm not Nimueh. You must have me confused with someone else. I am the Lady Christina de Souza, and I'd really like to know how I got here wherever here is. Did you bring me here somehow? I won't be mad if you did it just to meet me. I mean you're kind of cute and all, and I know how amazing I am. I'm sure there are plenty of people just like you throughout time who have heard of my legendary stories and can't wait to see me in person. I'm going to have to disappoint you though because I'm already in a relationship right now. At least it's the beginning of one anyway. So if you'll just send me back home to the TARDIS, everything will be just fine, okay?" Christina said.

"What? Nimueh, are you sick? Don't you recognize me? It's me, Merlin," Merlin said with worry furrowing his brow now as he began to feel Christina's forehead to see if she had a fever.

Christina started to slap him but she could see that he really was just worried and wasn't trying anything so she let it go. For now that is. If his hands went any lower though then he was in for a problem.

"Merlin? You mean like the wizard? Who names their kid Merlin? That's just asking to get him beat up. Are you a big Harry Potter fan or something? Is that what this whole castle set-up is all about?" Christina asked.

"You don't seem to have a fever but you're very, very confused for some reason. Who is Harry Potter anyway? Is he someone you used to know back in the old days before you became a High Priestess? An old boyfriend maybe?" Merlin asked with just a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

"High Priestess? Okay, what is going on here? Is this some kind of sick live role playing session where you've abducted me to be your princess? How did you get me out of the TARDIS anyway? Donald said that was almost impossible," Christina said as she became more and more confused by the moment now.

"TARDIS. You said that before, didn't you? Do you think that you're from Jenny's universe, is that it?" Merlin asked as he tried to understand what she was talking about.

"Do you know Jenny?" Christina asked with a hopeful feeling in her heart for the first time since she woke up.

"Of course I know Jenny and so do you. Jenny used her powers to make you forget who you were so that you would stop attacking me. Then we fell in love and luckily you stayed in love with me even when you eventually remembered who you really were again. I really, really hope that happens this time too when you remember again, and you don't start trying to kill me anymore," Merlin said in a nervous voice.

"Merlin, I am not this Nimueh person, and I am definitely not in love with you. I will kill you though if you don't let me go home. Jenny Tyler is a close personal friend of mine. If you don't send me back now, I'll get her to come here and kick you where the sun don't shine. Got it? Send me back to Donald's TARDIS right now. Enough is enough! This isn't funny anymore," Christina said in a furious voice.

"You're not kidding, are you? Alright, I'll call Jenny here. I have a way of summoning her with this amulet that she gave me if I ever need her. She'll settle this once and for all. Then maybe she can help me fix whatever's wrong with your mind," Merlin said as he softly caressed Christina's face with a worried look in his eyes.

Again Christina didn't hit him because she could tell that he was genuinely very worried about this Nimueh person whoever she was. She must look similar to her or something. Maybe he had taken her by mistake thinking that she was Nimueh.

"Please do. Then she can take me home," Christina said.

Before Merlin could even touch the amulet though, Jenny suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm already ahead of you this time, Merlin," Jenny said as she smiled at both of them.

Christina immediately launched herself at her and threw her arms around her as she said, "I am so glad to see you. You know who I am, right? Please tell me that you know who I am!"

"Yeah, I know who you are, Christina. Don't worry. I'm already working on a way to get you back home," Jenny said as she hugged her.

"What?! What do you mean working on a way to get me back? You just snap your little fingers and send me back right now. What's so hard about that?" Christina said in a panicky voice.

"You mean she's really not Nimueh? Who is she then? Where's Nimueh and why does she look so much like her?" Merlin asked with a totally bewildered look on his face.

"Nimueh woke up in Donald and River's TARDIS, and she immediately started causing trouble for them. She actually attacked River. She accused her of kidnapping her and stealing her magic. Can you believe that? That anyone would be crazy enough to attack River with no powers? Needless to say, River knocked her out cold," Jenny said.

Merlin raised his eyebrows at that as Jenny said, "Don't worry. She's fine. River was being unusually gentle with her. She didn't even break any bones. I think it was because she looks like Christina. They are friends after all."

"That never stopped her before," Christina joked as she began to feel more at ease with Jenny here.

"You never answered my other question though. Why does she look exactly like Nimueh? They could be twins," Merlin said as he looked at Christina intently.

Christina realized that that explained everything then. Nimueh was his girlfriend, and she looked just like her. She was a lucky girl in so many ways!

"I actually noticed that when I first met Nimueh, and I thought it was strange even then. This is a different universe from mine and Christina's so there shouldn't possibly be any connection between the two of them whatsoever after all. I think that I know what it is though. It's because Christina is a time traveler. Her image has been captured in the Vortex from traveling inside of it so much and imprinted throughout every part of reality that it touches on. That causes people from other universes, times, and places to wind up looking like her. It's similar to spatial genetic multiplicity except it isn't happening through a time rift. It happens to Time Lords quite a lot actually. My Dad has encountered people who look like him several times before. My Mum has too even in our own universe. Although I still can't help but wonder about that one. I mean they look and act a little too much alike if you ask me," Jenny said.

"You can talk about Rose's uncanny resemblance to Billie Piper later, Jenny. This is serious. I want to go home. For the record though, I think they're the same person," Christina said winking at her.

"I know! She has to be, right? Clara thinks I'm crazy though, and Dad won't tell me anything. He just smiles at me," Jenny said in exasperation.

"I think Clara just doesn't want to admit the truth," Christina said.

"You said that there was a problem with sending Christina back?" Merlin asked ignoring their talk about yet another person that he didn't know.

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't ask about that. You see Christina and Nimueh didn't as much change bodies as minds," Jenny said.

"What are you talking about? This is my body. I'd recognize it anywhere," Christina said.

"No, it's not. You're still in Nimueh's body and she's in yours. That's the problem. We don't know how to switch your minds back just yet without hurting you. It's because this was done by what the people of this world call magic, and that makes it harder for us to undo it since we don't know exactly what type of science was used to accomplish it," Jenny said.

"It's not science, Jen. It's magic. You just said it was. So that means that Merlin here has to undo it. I mean you really are the Merlin, right?" Christina asked.

"Yes, but I have no idea what kind of spell that the Triple Goddess put on you much less any idea of how to undo it. I'd have to do some research into it first," Merlin said.

"That's just my luck! I just have to get stuck here with a young Merlin who has no clue what he's doing yet. You're definitely not like the Merlin that I've heard about. Who are the Triple Goddess anyway, and why would they do this to me?" Christina asked.

"The Triple Goddess are the top beings of the Old Religion. They used to be worshipped all throughout Albion long ago, and now they want to bring back that time. They want to destroy Camelot in order to bring that about because this kingdom is one of the biggest things standing in their way. As for why they picked you, they didn't. I'm sure that they wanted to get rid of Nimueh because since she switched from their side to ours, she's been one of Camelot's greatest defenders. By the way, I do know what I'm doing. I just have to figure out what's going on first, and then I can see if I can help you. I'm not all-knowing you know," Merlin said in an irritated voice.

"Maybe not but it would be nice if you knew something though," Christina said in an equally irritated voice.

"I know plenty," Merlin said.

"Really? Well, why don't you start proving it then? Find out what they did to me and undo it. I want to go home!" Christina shouted.

"I want you to go home too at this point," Merlin said with a sigh.

"Christina, Merlin, calm down! I'm working on trying to find a way to fix things. Of course if you could find out what's going on, then that would really help me a lot in doing that. Do you think that you could ask Alice?" Jenny asked.

"Alice? Oh, don't tell me that she has a white rabbit with her! That's all I need," Christina said.

Suddenly a young woman with dark hair appeared in the middle of the room and said, "White rabbit? Why would I have a white rabbit? This new friend of yours is very strange, Merlin, which is saying a lot since most of your friends aren't exactly models of normalcy to begin with."

"Who are you?" Christina asked as she became more and more angry by the minute now.

"Alice, youngest member of the Triple Goddess, at your service," Alice said with a mischievous grin.

"Wait a minute! You said that she was one of the bad guys, right? Why did you do this to me? You send me home right this minute or I'll smack you into next week," Christina said.

"Whoa! Hold it! I'm one of the good guys now. I'm on Merlin's side now. Well, I don't want to kill him anymore anyway, and I didn't have anything to do with this. It must have been the Old Woman. She's the senior member of our little group. She's also the one who caused most of the trouble to Camelot in the past and still is doing it even now that she's a member short. The other two can't do much without me since the three of us have to be together to cast most of our magic, but they can do certain things even without my approval. It helps if they have servants that we gave powers to before we broke up that are still willing to help them. In this case, since we're talking about mind swapping across dimensions they must be using someone who has some really heavy mojo. I'd say someone who has already been to your universe before," Alice said.

"Oh, no! Not Crazy Plant Lady! I can't stand her!" Jenny said with a groan.

"Mojo?" Merlin asked Alice.

"It's futurespeak, Merlin. I'm talking to people from far in the future so I have to speak their lingo," Alice said.

"I'm so lost right now. Who is Crazy Plant Lady?" Christina asked.

"I am!" A voice said as several flowers and leaves came floating into the room out of nowhere as if on a summer breeze and suddenly came together in the form of a beautiful woman with long blonde hair.

"I am Blodeuwedd and you are now mine!" Blodeuwedd said as she grabbed Christina by the throat.

"Sorry, but I'm just not that into you," Christina managed to say through the ever tightening hands around her throat.

"I brought you here so that I could deliver what's left of the Triple Goddess a new High Priestess to replace Nimueh. Your inferior mind should be much easier to brainwash into serving us than Nimueh's would be. You can then learn to use Nimueh's magic, and it will be just like she never left us. We need all the help that we can get now that someone has abandoned us," Blodeuwedd said.

"Oh, fine. Make it all my fault," Alice said.

"You're not going anywhere with her," Jenny said as she began to glow with the power of the Vortex that she had inherited from her mother.

"Let her go!" Merlin shouted as he used his magic to telekinetically push Blodeuwedd into the nearest wall.

"That's not going to be good enough I'm afraid, Emrys," Blodeuwedd said as she began to wrap Merlin in giant vines that suddenly formed underneath his feet.

"That's not going to stop me. I'm already wise to that trick," Jenny said as she phased out of the grasp of some more vines that were meant to entrap her.

"I know but those vines were just meant to distract you so that I could hit you with my real attack," Blodeuwedd said.

Suddenly Jenny was instantly teleported away as Blodeuwedd forcibly sent her back to her home universe. She then quickly did the same thing to Alice by sending her into another universe. Alice was nowhere near as powerful without the help of the other goddesses anymore so it was very easy for her to temporarily send her away as well. Now that all of the threats to her had been momentarily dealt with, Blodeuwedd swiftly teleported away with Christina before either Jenny or Alice could return.

She reappeared inside of the Cave of the Ancients where she knew that it would be harder to track her down since its magic made it almost impossible to find unless you were extremely powerful. She now threw Christina to the ground and trapped her within several extremely powerful vines that she formed out of her own body.

"Soon I will make you into our newest servant. You belong to us now," Blodeuwedd said.

"I don't think so," Christina said as she stared at her defiantly.

"You're very brave but it won't do you any good. No one will find you here. You're never going home again," Blodeuwedd said.

"That's where you're wrong. You've just made your biggest mistake in kidnapping me, Lady. Do you want to know why?' Christina asked.

Blodeuwedd laughed as she said, "Amuse me."

"You've just made my best friend very, very angry. That's why. Look behind you," Christina said.

"Do you really think that I'm that stupid?" Blodeuwedd said smirking at her.

"You must be because you just stole my friend away from me," Lydia said from behind her.

Before Blodeuwedd could even turn around, Lydia started to disintegrate her with a single gesture as she said, "Feel that? That's the power of an Eternal."

"No!" Blodeuwedd screamed as she quickly turned to dust in an instant.

Christina immediately fell to the floor as the vines holding her were now disintegrated as well.

Lydia immediately helped Christina up and hugged her tightly as she said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine now especially if you can transfer my mind back to my body again. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but aren't you breaking your promise to your mother not to use your powers?" Christina asked.

"I don't care. I couldn't let you be trapped here forever. Jenny told us what happened, and I had to come to help. Not even taking you to this place could keep you hidden from me because we're linked to each other. I could find you anywhere no matter how far away you were," Lydia said as she continued to hug Christina tightly.

Christina could tell that Lydia was very upset to have almost lost her because she could feel her shaking all over. She decided to try her best to cheer her up in her own unique style.

"If you could find me anywhere, then why did it take you so long to get here?" Christina asked in a false angry tone.

"I, uh, thought that the other Christina was really you," Lydia admitted.

"Some best friend! You can't even tell when I've had my brain switched or not," Christina said indignantly.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Lydia said as she began to smile.

"Maybe the fact that the other me attacked River might have given you a clue," Christina said.

"I thought maybe you were just a little confused. You didn't seem to know who you were or where you were. I was thinking that you had flipped your lid not switched minds. Crazy me for trying to think of the most likely explanation!" Lydia said.

"Well, don't do that anymore. The next time I start talking crazy you automatically start thinking that my mind's been swapped," Christina joked.

"I'm sorry," Lydia said.

"For what? You saved my life," Christina said.

"I don't know how to switch you back though, and I just had to disintegrate the person who put you in there in order to save your life. You could be trapped in that body forever because of me," Lydia said sadly.

"Even if that's true, at least I look exactly the same plus I have magic. How cool is that?" Christina said smiling.

"I'm still sorry," Lydia said.

"It's okay," Christina said.

"Finally! I thought I'd never track you down," Jenny said as she suddenly appeared in the cave.

"It took you long enough. Lydia already saved me five minutes ago. I could have already had my brain swiss cheesed by the time that you got here," Christina complained.

"Sorry. I didn't have a mental link with you to help me automatically get here. I'm glad you're safe though. Now I just need to put you back in your right body. Oh, and your Mum says that what you just did is okay, Lydia, so don't worry. She likes it that you were only using your power to help Christina. That was a big plus in your favor," Jenny said.

"To be honest I really didn't care. I only cared about saving her," Lydia said.

"That's why she forgave you because you were willing to sacrifice yourself for her like that I think," Jenny admitted.

"You've certainly come a long way from who you were when I first met you, and you were conjuring up Daleks to try to make me have fun so I wouldn't leave," Christina said.

"Daleks are your idea of fun?" Jenny asked in disbelief.

"I guess you just had to be there. So has anyone figured out a way to switch me back yet or do I have to learn how to use magic now?" Christina asked.

"You're in luck, Christina. I just brought someone who knows how to switch you back," Jenny said.

She snapped her fingers and Christina was face to face with . . . herself.

"I take it you're Nimueh," Christina said.

"That's right. So this is your body, huh? I must say that I definitely prefer my own. Yours is a little bit on the pudgy side," Nimueh said.

"Pudgy?!" Christina said with a murderous look in her eyes.

"Just a little. You're also a little too short for my tastes and that breath! What have you been eating?" Nimueh said.

"Before you list all of my many faults in alphabetical order, can we just switch bodies already?" Christina asked.

"Definitely. Now just repeat after me and do everything that I do," Nimueh said.

Then she began to chant a spell and made several gestures with her hands that Christina did her best to copy. She was almost sure that she had done it all wrong, but she must have done it well enough to count because suddenly she found herself back in her own body again.

She sighed in relief as she looked down at herself in approval and said, "Pudgy, my . . .!"

"Christina!" Jenny said.

"What?" Christina said with a wicked grin on her face.

"Well, now that I'm back where I belong I'll go home now. I definitely won't miss being you, and I especially won't miss your so-called friends. That crazy blonde woman almost dislocated my jaw," Nimueh said.

"You're right, Lydia. River was holding back. She must like me after all. Well, goodbye, Nimueh, and tell Merlin that I hope that kiss was good for him too," Christina said.

"What?! You're lying!" Nimueh said in a furious voice.

"Am I?" Christina said smirking.

"Now, Jenny, before Nimueh kills us all!" Lydia said as she looked at the enraged sorceress.

Jenny teleported the three of them away as Christina said, "That's what you get for calling me fat!"

Nimueh teleported away even as she sighed with relief. As if Merlin would ever associate with someone that common. Why she wasn't even half as pretty as her. How she could have ever been mistaken for her was beyond her comprehension.

**I hope you liked it. This is my first attempt at making Christina the main character of a story. I've always liked Christina and I've often entertained the idea of giving her a story of her own so I finally did it. Should I give Christina an ongoing story? Please let me know if that would be something that you'd read or not. Even if it's not, let me know if you like what I did here. I would greatly appreciate it.**


	2. In Search Of The Well Of Infinity Part 1

CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who or Pirates of the Caribbean and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! I've decided to continue this story because of them and start a whole new story arc for my favorite time traveling thief. This new story arc is set sometime in the near future of The Further Adventures of River Song by the way, but I'll try not to give away too many spoilers here about what will occur there in future chapters. **

IN SEARCH OF THE WELL OF INFINITY PART 1

Christina and Lydia were traveling alone through time and space together using the Vortex Manipulator that River had given to them when Christina first noticed that Lydia didn't look right. Christina had noticed that Lydia had started looking pale sometime during their last adventure on the planet of shops, Barcelona, when Christina and Lydia had gone shopping there.

Lydia was trying to act normal as she looked for a new dress, but Christina could see that she was unsteady on her feet and looked like she was in pain. She touched Lydia's shoulder lightly causing Lydia to look up at her as she looked at her with eyes filled with concern.

"Hey, are you alright? You don't look so good," Christina said in a worried voice.

"I'm fine. I just feel a little tired. I guess I haven't been resting enough lately. How about after we finish here we go back and reunite with Casanova? As much as I love having alone time with you, Chrissy, I'm sure he'd actually like to go with us sometimes too. He is your boyfriend after all," Lydia said as she tried to sound normal.

"Chrissy? Since when do you call me that? Sure, we'll go back and get Giacomo soon enough. I want to know what's wrong with you first there and if I need to take you to a doctor," Christina said.

"I was just trying out a new nickname for you. You don't like it?" Lydia said ignoring her concerns.

"No, I don't. Stop changing the subject, Lydia. You look like you're going to pass out at any moment, and you never said a thing about it to me. Tell me what's going on," Christina said in an upset voice.

Lydia meant everything to her. She was the one person that she loved more than anyone. If anything ever happened to her, she knew that she would never be the same. She really was just like her sister now so much so that she had already left her entire fortune to her in case anything ever happened to her. Needless to say her father hadn't been too enthusiastic about that idea since he had lost all of his own money in Iceland. Christina had just wanted to make sure that Lydia knew how much she cared about her and that she would be well taken care of when she wasn't around anymore.

She never even thought about Lydia dying before her though. Eternals didn't die, right?

Then again Lydia was only half Eternal.

Lydia took a deep breath and finally answered Christina's question as she said, "Christina, I'm sick. I've been sick for the last day or so, and I don't know what's wrong with me. I kept hoping that I'd get better, but I just keep feeling worse and worse. I keep feeling dizzy, and my head is killing me. I hurts so much that I feel like I'm going to pass out at any minute now."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Christina said in an extremely upset voice as her usual smug arrogant demeanor immediately went out the window.

As Christina felt Lydia's forehead for a fever, Lydia smiled as she said, "I didn't want you to overreact. Kinda like you're doing right now."

"Overreact? I'll show you overreacting! If anything happens to you . . ." Christina said before her voice gave out because it went hoarse with emotion.

"You are overreacting, Chrissy. I think it's just some kind of bug or something. I do still get sick you know because I'm half human. That part of me is always making sure that I catch all kinds of nasty things all the time," Lydia said.

"Don't call me that! I don't care if you think I'm getting overly emotional or not. You're going to see a doctor. Right now!" Christina said.

"I'm fine," Lydia said even as she gritted her teeth together in pain.

"Doctor! Now!" Christina ordered.

"Yes, boss," Lydia joked.

Christina started to leave Barcelona when she was stopped by Ishtar, Lydia's step-mother and the Rose Tyler of the previous universe, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The grim look on her face told Christina volumes even before she spoke.

Ishtar wrapped a comforting arm around each of the two women as she said to Christina, "You don't need to go to a doctor. I already know what's wrong with her."

"What is it? Is she going to be okay?" Christina asked as sudden dread began to fill her heart.

Ishtar hesitated and avoided Lydia's gaze as she, "No, she's not."

Lydia began to get upset now as she asked, "What do you mean? What's happening to me, Mum?"

Ishtar tried not to cry as she said, "I don't know. Something like this has never happened before because you're the first human-Eternal hybrid in recorded history, Lydia. There were laws against the Eternals having children with other species for a reason. Their DNA doesn't mix well with that of others. You're dying, Lydia. Your body is starting to shut down, and I don't know why. I think it's because your DNA is flawed. It could be some kind of genetic defect that was created when you were born, and it's only now showing itself as you've gotten older. Traveling through time and space so much probably hasn't helped it either. It's only aggravated it."

"Did I do this then? Did I make her worse by taking her traveling with me?" Christina asked in a horrified voice.

"No, sweetie. You didn't do anything at all. The damage was already done from all of that traveling with River and Donald. Her travels with you couldn't possibly have damaged her any more than she's already been. Believe me on that. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, Lydia. I wanted to be sure before I sprang it on you," Ishtar said.

"I understand but I still wish that I could have gotten a little more of a heads-up than this. How much longer do I have?" Lydia asked with a lump in her throat.

"I don't know. I think though from reading your timeline that you only have a few months at best if that long. I'm sorry. My power doesn't seem to be working against whatever's wrong with you for some reason or I would have already cured you. I'm not going to give up trying to find some way to help you though. I promise," Ishtar said in tears.

"I know, Mum. I know," Lydia said as she embraced her.

"No," Christina said firmly.

"What?" Both women asked her in confusion.

"I said no. She's not going anywhere and that's it!" Christina said arrogantly.

"Do you think I want her to? I'm trying my best to help her," Ishtar protested.

"I'm going to do more than try. I'm going to help her. Somehow someway I will help her. I don't care what I have to do or what laws of time, space, or man that I have to break. Lydia. Is. Not. Leaving. Me!" Christina shouted in a furious voice.

"Christina . . ." Lydia said in a gentle voice.

"You're not. You're just not. There has to be a way to help you, and I'm going to find it," Christina said stubbornly.

"There is one way that I've heard of, but I'm not even sure that it really even exists. It's just rumors really that I've never been able to actually confirm," Ishtar said.

"Tell me all about. I'm willing to try anything," Christina said.

"Well, there is a story about a device from the earliest days of this universe that could make Ephemerals into Eternals. The Eternals created it to add new blood to their ranks since spending eternity with the same old lot became very, very dull eventually. They eventually stopped using this device to create new Eternals though because it wasn't exactly yielding them positive results," Ishtar explained.

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked intrigued.

"These new Eternals were able to retain their old morals and personalities even after being changed, and they didn't like the horrible way that the other Eternals treated the Ephemerals. They strongly objected to it and many of them tried to stop them from attacking lesser species by force. That was when the original Eternals hunted down and destroyed their new brothers and sisters to the last one. After that they took the device that could create new Eternals and got rid of it," Ishtar answered.

"Where did it go?" Christina asked intrigued.

"That's where the legends are vague. No one knows for sure. No one even knows what it looks like or how it worked. According to the story, the device was called The Well of Infinity. All someone had to do was to be exposed to its energies, and then they would be transformed into an Eternal. If it is real and Lydia can get to it wherever it is then she could be changed into a full Eternal. That way her DNA would be fixed, and she'd live forever," Ishtar explained.

"Would she still be the same person or would she change and become more like her birth mother? She's not exactly the poster child for kindness after all," Christina wondered.

"I don't want to change. I'd rather die than to become cruel and malicious like most Eternals," Lydia said.

"The legends say that the people who were changed kept their old personalities, but who knows for sure. They are just stories after all. No one even knows if The Well of Infinity is even real or not. It could be just a myth like the Underpants of Rassilon," Ishtar said.

"The what?" Christina asked smiling despite the dire situation that they were in now.

"That's an old Time Lord legend that I heard somewhere once. They were supposed to have great destructive power and were rumored to send people fleeing in terror," Ishtar said.

"I don't doubt it. I'm sure that they must be pretty strong by now if they've been around for a billion years. I certainly wouldn't want to be downwind of them. So that's all you know about The Well then? There are no clues at all as to where it might be located?" Christina asked as she tried to switch the conversation back to what she needed to know.

"There's only one group that might know more about it. They know all kinds of secrets after all and have been gathering together secret knowledge and writing it down since before the time of Rassilon. The Sisterhood of Karn," Ishtar said.

"Oh, that's just wonderful. From what I've heard about them, they never tell anyone anything who isn't a sister. Of course I suppose I could always find a way around that," Christina said with an evil grin on her face.

"Christina, don't even think about it. The Sisterhood are extremely dangerous. If they find out that you're trying to go through their old records, they'll kill you or worse," Ishtar warned.

"That's just a risk that I'll have to talk, isn't it? I need to know what they know if anything about this Well. I have to find it before it's too late," Christina said stubbornly.

"Chrissy, no! You don't even know if this thing is real or not. I don't want you to risk your life like this," Lydia protested.

"Will you stop calling me that?! Yes, I am going there right now. I'm going to find a way to get into their records and see exactly what they know if it's the last thing that I do," Christina said firmly.

"It just might be. I guess if you're going to do something stupid I might as well go along with you. You'll need someone to keep you alive when you get into huge trouble as usual," Lydia said in a worried tone.

"You're not going anywhere. You already look like you've about had it," Christina said.

"I'm fine right now. Don't worry about it," Lydia said.

"You're going with your mum and let her take care of you. That's final," Christina said.

"I thought I was supposed to be her mother," Ishtar said in amusement.

"It seems like I've got three mothers now, Mum," Lydia said in an annoyed voice.

"Now that it's been decided that Lydia is going with you I need to recruit a new partner or two to help me locate the Well. I'll have to send out an advertisement of some kind throughout the universe and see exactly who I can get. It will have to be someone that's not above doing certain extralegal activities in a good cause," Christina said.

"Chrissy, you're backsliding after you promised Donald that you'd change. Don't do this," Lydia begged.

"I have to. I'll do anything and break any promise to save you, Lydia. I love you," Christina said in an emotional voice.

"I love you too and that's why I don't want you to do this. Just forget about it, okay?" Lydia implored her.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I'll see you later, Lydia," Christina said as she used her Vortex Manipulator to quickly disappear before Lydia could protest any further.

Lydia glared at Ishtar as she said, "Why did you have to tell her about that stupid story? Now she's going to be in a whole lot of danger, and it's all because of me."

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to help you. I don't want Christina to be in danger any more than you do because I've grown to care a lot about her, but I also don't want to see you die either. I don't know if the Well is real or not, but if it is then I know that Christina is the one person who will find it. One way or another she won't stop until she finds out whether it's real or not. I think that I'll send someone to help her though just to make sure that she survives," Ishtar said.

"Who?" Lydia asked.

"A friend," Ishtar said enigmatically without saying anything further.

Christina had asked around at various places where she knew that people of certain low character resided for an entire day and had not managed to find anyone who was willing to go after the Well with her. They were either convinced that she was delusional for believing in the Well in the first place or they became sure that she was a complete loon when she talked about breaking into the home of the Sisterhood. So far her search for a new partner had been a complete failure.

Then suddenly as she bombed yet again on Iceworld as everyone ran from her as soon as she mentioned the Sisterhood, she finally struck gold at last. A man in a trenchcoat came up to her along with that notorious rogue that ran this station along with K'anpo Rimpoche and Melanie Bush called Sabalom Glitz.

"So you're really willing to bump heads with the Sisterhood in order to find this Well of yours? You must be really convinced that it exists then. Either that or you're a complete basket case. I'm willing to bet that you might actually be onto something here though and so is my associate Mr. Frobisher here," Glitz said.

"I've heard of what a great thief and con man that you are, Mr. Glitz, but what does Mr. Frobisher here do?" Christina asked curiously.

"I'm a Whifferdill and that means that I'm a shape changer. I can basically look like anyone or anything," Frobisher said.

"Really? So you could impersonate one of the Sisterhood then?" Christina said intrigued.

"Definitely," Frobisher said.

"What's your price? Money is no object. You name it," Christina said.

"I want to help you because I'm a friend of the Doctor's too. I owe him a lot and helping you will help make up for some of that. Besides, I never could turn down a hard luck case like your friend. That's why I became a private detective in my spare time. Glitz here might actually demand some of that money of yours though," Frobisher said as he looked at Glitz disdainfully.

"Don't make me look like I only care about the money involved. I'm here to help a friend of the Doctor's as well. I'm purely here for altruistic reasons I assure you. I will get paid though, right?" Glitz asked.

"You'll be getting a huge reward if you help me save my friend," Christina reassured him.

"That's great. Not that I wouldn't have done it anyway reward or no reward of course," Glitz said.

"Of course," Christina said with a sigh.

"Sorry about that. Luckily for you, I happened to be in the bar and heard your story. Maybe I can help you more than he can, and I won't be so interested in taking every bit of money that you have either," Frobisher said.

"You wound me, sir. Of course I want to help the girl more than I want the money," Glitz protested.

"I honestly don't care why either of you help me as long as you do. All I care about is saving my sister. I'll hire anyone and pay any price in order to do that," Christina said loudly.

"Will you? Are you sure?" A cold voice said.

Christina turned to see Davros, the creator of the Daleks, approaching her along with his sister Mira. Christina couldn't help but shiver inside even as she retained her outward calm.

"I thought that you were being held prisoner on Skaro the last that I heard," Christina said with a fake confidence that she didn't feel.

"I was but I was released when a friend of mine convinced Oswin to let me go temporarily in order to help you. My sister naturally came along too of course," Davros said.

"I came along to help keep you out of trouble," Mira said firmly.

Christina smiled as she had sounded just like Lydia in that moment. Then she looked up in surprise as she saw Davros' friend coming up right behind him.

"Hello, Aunt Christina. Ishtar convinced me to help you, and I couldn't resist taking Davros along with me. I mean who would know better how to be sneaky and duplicitous than him?" The future adult version of Jacqueline 'Cassie' Tyler said with a grin.

Davros glared at her as she said to him with a flirtatious wink, "You know it's true. You'll be thinking of all kinds of ways to get the information that we want from the Sisterhood in no time I'm sure."

Christina just looked at her with shock. She liked to flirt too but with Davros?! Then again she had always heard that Jacqueline and Davros had a very strange relationship. She wondered if her fiancé, Anthony Williams (the son of Amy and Rory), approved.

She realized that she had quickly assembled quite the motley crew here, and it made her suddenly feel like a pirate after lost treasure. She smiled at the comparison as she quite liked pirates especially Jack Sparrow. She hoped that she could trust all of them and that one or more of them especially Davros wouldn't stab her in the back by the time that this was through.

She had to take that risk though. She had always said that she would do anything for Lydia, and now was finally the time to prove it at last.

"Alright, everyone, now that I'm finally gotten some help at last it's time to find out just what if anything that the Sisterhood knows about what we're looking for. It's time to head to Karn," Christina said.

Christina couldn't help but shiver at the evil gleam that seemed to be in Davros' eyes when she said this. Glitz was greedy, but he wasn't a monster. Frobisher seemed like a nice guy who only wanted to help. Davros though was another ball game entirely. She knew that involving him was like playing with fire.

She trusted Jacqueline though and just had to hope that she knew what she was doing bringing him into this. Then again she had just been seemingly flirting with him just a second ago so maybe hers wasn't necessarily the best judgment right now.

Jacqueline seemed to notice this as she said, "Don't be worried, Christina. I promised Ishtar that I would help you and I will. If this Well that you're after really does exist, then we'll find it. I promise you that."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Christina muttered in a low voice as she looked at Davros warily.

**Next: The quest for the Well gets underway as Christina and her new crew travel to the planet Karn to infiltrate the home of the Sisterhood. They may find more than they expected there before everything is over with though as they run across a sinister foe who is also seeking the Well for their own evil purposes.**


	3. In Search Of The Well Of Infinity Part 2

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who or Star Wars and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! **

IN SEARCH OF THE WELL OF INFINITY PART 2

Frobisher had been impersonating one of the Sisterhood of Karn for several days now after a failed attempt by Christina and Glitz to break into the Sisterhood's headquarters that almost got them both captured. They had come up with this plan after Christina's group, which she had started cheekily calling her Merry Men, had found one of the Sisters alone and kidnapped them as they first arrived on Karn. They had the Sister tied up but otherwise unharmed at their secret camp several miles away from the Sisterhood's headquarters.

Frobisher had been searching for anything that he could find about The Well for three days while Christina had been questioning the kidnapped Sister about it. So far both of them had come up with nothing though.

It didn't help any that the Sister that they had kidnapped was very young and was absolutely terrified. It made Christina feel like an absolute heel to be the one who was responsible for traumatizing the poor girl. She tried to make her feel as much at ease as possible but with Davros hanging around trying to grill her about what she knew (which apparently wasn't much) like a drill sergeant that wasn't exactly working out too well.

"It's been several days now and still you have told us nothing. I have lost my patience with you, girl! If you don't tell us about The Well of Infinity right now, I will be forced to do some very unpleasant things to you in order to find out what I need to know," Davros threatened.

"No! Please leave me alone!" The girl, whose name was Willa, screamed in terror.

"You're not doing anything to her! Got it?" Christina shouted at Davros.

"How else do you think that we're going to find this mystical well of yours, human? We will have to be willing to do anything and go to any lengths in order to find the information that will lead us to it. Morality cannot be allowed to stand in our way if we are to save your friend. You do want to save her don't you?" Davros questioned.

"Yes, I do but not this way. I won't hurt some poor terrified girl who obviously knows nothing. Lydia would be ashamed of me if I did, and I would be ashamed of me too," Christina said.

Willa had tears streaming down her face and was shaking in terror so much that Christina was afraid that she was going to drop dead of a heart attack at any moment. Christina smiled at her and gently ruffled her hair as she tried her best to put her at ease.

"Hey. Don't worry okay? You're going to be fine. When I find out what I need to know I'll release you unharmed. I won't let anyone hurt you until then not even Darth Dalek over there. It's going to be okay," Christina said in a gentle voice.

"Please just let me go. I won't tell anyone what you did. I promise," Willa said.

Christina gave Willa a small hug as she continued to shake in terror and finally said, "If we don't find anything today, I'll let you go."

Willa looked at her with renewed hope in her eyes as she said, "Do you mean it?"

"Yes. I don't feel very good about myself right now, and I don't want to terrify you any more than I already have. Besides that I don't think that the Sisters have any information on The Well here anyway," Christina said with a sigh.

"You can't do this. The girl is our only bargaining chip. Even if she truly doesn't know anything, we can still offer to return her in exchange for the knowledge that we seek. I'm still not convinced that she's as naïve as she appears to be by the way," Davros said.

"That's not the way that I do things. I don't hurt people and I don't hold them for ransom either. I never kidnapped anyone before either . . . until now," Christina said in an extremely unhappy voice.

"The girl goes back after today no matter what, Davros. I never should have let you lot keep her here this long," Jacqueline said as she finally came into the tent where they were holding Willa.

Davros shook his head as he said, "None of you have what it takes to find The Well. You'll never find it unless you're willing to get your hands dirty."

Jacqueline looked at Davros with disgust as she said, "Every time I think I can see the good man inside of you starting to emerge you go and take two steps backwards again. You disappoint me, Davros. You really do."

She turned away from him with a hurt look on her face, and Christina was shocked to see Davros' face immediately become filled with a look of shame. Apparently the stories that she had heard about him were true. He truly did love Jacqueline and didn't like seeing her upset or in pain especially because of him.

"I'm sorry, Jacqueline. I'm truly sorry," Davros said.

Jacqueline smiled as she said, "No, you're not. You just don't like seeing me cry. You're not sorry about what you did to make me cry for a second though. I know you, Davros. I know you all too well, and I still love you somehow even despite that. I don't know why but I do."

"I don't know why either," Christina said honestly earning herself a hateful glare from Davros.

"If you weren't my brother, I'd punch you in the face for what you've been doing. It's been taking all of my self-control not to for the past few days to be honest," Mira said as she entered the tent now as well.

"Go right ahead. I certainly won't stop you," Christina said.

"I'm sorry if I've upset either of you, but you must understand that in order to get results that we must be willing to break certain rules," Davros said.

"My sentiments exactly. You can't make an omelet without being willing to break a few eggs," Glitz said as he now finally entered the tent as well.

"We're not keeping the girl here any longer," Christina said firmly.

"Oh, I absolutely agree with that. She doesn't know anything anyway. She's dead weight to us. No, what I think we should do is that we should just sneak in at night and case the place while they're all asleep. If anyone tries to stop us, we just knock them out cold until we're done. If we happen to find a little money or something else of value while we're doing so then so much the better," Glitz said smiling eagerly.

"No," Christina said as the three women of the group glared at Glitz.

"My only ally in this discussion is a petty thief. Wonderful," Davros said in disbelief.

"I'm offended, deeply offended, at your insinuation. There's nothing petty about me whatsoever," Glitz said.

"I notice you didn't deny the thief part though," Christina said.

"You're a thief as well, Lady Christina," Glitz pointed out.

"Not anymore. I gave that up. I just want to help my sister," Christina said.

Willa seemed to have quieted down now and was taking all of this in with a growing smile on her face. Christina noticed this sudden change out of the corner of her eye and automatically did a double take as she looked at her in surprise.

"Willa?" Christina asked as Willa started to laugh.

Willa suddenly broke through the ropes surrounding her with a single shrug of her shoulders and stood facing the others with a large smile that now covered her entire face. Christina realized with a sickening feeling in her heart now that Davros had been right all along. They had been tricked.

"You're a truly noble soul, Christina. While others of your party are only here for their own selfish reasons, you only care about helping your friend. You passed my test," Willa said.

"Test? What's going on?" Christina asked.

Willa smiled kindly at her as she said, "I am the leader of the Sisterhood, Christina. I came out here alone on purpose to see what you were after and what lengths that you were willing to go to in order to search for it after several of my sisters spotted you suddenly arriving here days ago. If you had tried to hurt me or any of my sisters, I would have had you all killed on the spot. As it is though, I've decided to tell you what I know about The Well because of your kindness towards me the last few days."

"Thank you. I would really appreciate it. My friend is very sick, and I don't want to lose her," Christina said as she struggled to maintain her composure.

Willa nodded in understanding as she said, "According to an historical account of the early days of the Sisterhood, The Well was hidden by the Eternals inside of an ancient hidden temple located somewhere on the planet Chaos, where it never stops raining."

"Yes, I've heard of it," Davros said with an evil smile on his face.

Christina didn't like that smile. She knew that it meant that he knew something that she didn't, and she never liked that feeling especially when it concerned her putting herself in deadly danger.

"You don't know anything more specific?" Christina asked her.

Willa shook her head as she said, "I'm afraid that I can't tell you any more than that. Oh, and that the temple is supposed to be full of all kinds of deathtraps. Sorry."

"Thanks. That makes me feel so much better," Christina said.

"Good luck, Christina. I hope that you find what you're looking for," Willa said.

As soon as she left, Frobisher returned and said, "Do you know what I just found out? That girl Willa was . . ."

"The leader of the Sisterhood. Yeah, we already figured that one out, Fro," Christina said.

"Fro? So did she tell you anything?" Frobisher asked.

"Not enough. I have no idea where the planet Chaos is, and even if I did how do I find a hidden temple there?" Christina asked in annoyance.

"I know where the planet is," Davros said with that same secretive smile on his face that was really bothering Christina.

"And I'm pretty sure I can find the temple with my powers once we get there," Jacqueline said.

"What about the deadly booby traps?" Glitz asked in a concerned voice.

"Oh, you just let me handle those. I'm very good at getting around barriers between me and the things that I want," Christina said with a large grin.

"What are we waiting for then? Davros, give me the coordinates, and I'll take us there in minutes," Jacqueline said.

"So you're not angry at me anymore?" Davros asked.

"No. We're okay. That doesn't mean that I haven't forgotten what you were willing to do though. We still have a long way to go before I can ever fully trust you," Jacqueline said with a serious look on her face.

Davros' face fell for a moment until Jacqueline gave him a small kiss on the cheek and a momentary smile. Then he began to smile again even as everyone else looked at Jackie like she had just lost her mind. Even Mira shrugged her shoulders when the others looked at her.

"Are you two . . .?" Christina whispered to Jacqueline who only smiled shyly and said nothing.

Christina resolved not to ask her anything further. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know.

Jacqueline glowed with energy as she teleported all of them to the coordinates that Davros gave her. Once they were there they noticed the constant rain immediately. Jacqueline used her powers to create a multi-colored umbrella for all of them right away however.

"Here. I always liked Dad's old multi-colored umbrella," Jackie said as she gave the umbrellas out.

"Why? They look terrible," Christina muttered to herself.

"I remember that umbrella. The Doctor with the outfit that looked like it came out of a circus' reject pile used to carry it," Glitz said with a fond memory on his face.

"Oi! I used to love that old umbrella when I was a kid. I played with it all the time," Jacqueline said indignantly.

Christina shook her head with a grin on her face as she questioned her friend's judgment for the second time that day.

"Shut up!" Jacqueline said laughing.

Suddenly she said, "The temple is over this way."

"Are you sure?" Christina asked.

Jacqueline nodded as she said, "Yes, I can feel something radiating enormous power nearby. That has to be it."

"I certainly hope so. Lead the way," Christina said as they followed Jackie toward what they hoped would be this mysterious temple that they had been told about.

They were all so intent on finding the temple that none of them noticed that Davros was no longer with them. He had recognized the name of the planet immediately and knew that there was something else besides the temple that this planet was known for. He was determined to see if he could find it for himself.

Neither Davros nor the others noticed that someone else was watching all of them however. It was someone who was very interested in finding the temple for his own reasons and had followed them there by his own special means.

Jacqueline soon stopped at a rain soaked spot in the middle of nowhere and said, "The temple is buried under here. I can feel it."

"How do we get in there? Dig?" Glitz asked in despair.

"That's going to be a lot of digging," Frobisher said with a whistle.

"There's no need to dig. Strong in the Force am I," Jacqueline joked as her eyes began to glow with power.

The temple suddenly started popping through the surface as it started to rise up out of the ground while Jackie gestured at it. It continued going up higher and higher as the others stared at its huge size in absolute astonishment once it was finished revealing itself to them.

"How did you do that?" Christina asked Jackie.

"Size matters not," Jacqueline said in an imitation of Yoda's voice.

"You are such a nerd," Christina said as she shook her head at her once again with a fond smile on her face.

"You try growing up with a mother who's obsessed with Star Wars and see how normal you are," Jacqueline said.

"She's still more normal than your Dad," Christina said ribbing her.

As they started to enter the temple, Mira finally noticed that Davros was missing. She hesitated to enter as she started looking around for him. That hesitation soon caused her to be left outside all alone as a massive stone wall came down between her and the others locking her out of the temple.

"Well, that's just great! Now I'm left out here in the soaking rain with my stupid brother nowhere in sight. Thanks a lot, Davros," Mira said as she tried unsuccessfully to find some way inside.

She wasn't as angry at him as she was acting though. She was more worried about him. She knew that he must be up to some kind of trouble, and it was up to her to stop him and save him from himself. If she could find him that is, which wasn't looking very likely at the moment.

She was soon about to have plenty of troubles of her own after all.

"Grab her!" A voice commanded.

Mira screamed as she felt someone grab her from behind and knock her to the ground. She then felt cold steel against her throat and automatically knew that it was a knife.

"Davros, help me," Mira said in a frightened voice.

Nothing answered her but mocking laughter coming from directly behind her.

Back inside the temple, Christina managed to find her way past several booby traps using the equipment in her backpack that she had used back in her former life as a thief. She was also used to thinking quickly on her feet from those days, and this helped her to quickly come up with ways to get around the many traps that continued to pop up the further that they traveled into the temple.

Christina had to admit that she was almost enjoying herself by the time that she found herself somersaulting through several lasers that suddenly appeared and crisscrossed the room in front of her. This really was starting to seem like the good old days.

No, that was wrong she thought as she corrected herself. Those weren't the good old days. Her life now was the best that it had ever been. She had to resist the urge to backslide no matter how tempting that it might be. She would not go back to who she had been before.

Never again.

To her dismay, Christina didn't notice that Davros and Mira were gone until they were almost to the exact center of the temple. She silently berated herself for being too wrapped up in reliving her past to notice that two of their party had disappeared.

"Don't worry. I'll find them. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't notice either even though I really should have. He's my responsibility after all. I was just so worried about helping Lydia that I completely tuned him out. I should have known that he would take advantage of this situation to try to do something stupid! I'm going to kill him when I do find him!" Jacqueline said in an extremely angry voice.

As Jacqueline disappeared in a burst of golden energy, Christina looked ahead of her warily. She now almost wished that she hadn't said anything because her most powerful ally was gone, and the worst traps of all were probably lying just ahead of them. She couldn't let Davros go free though. Despite knowing this, she still silently cursed her big mouth as she continued to bravely move forward.

She then entered what she knew was the exact center of the tower and was perplexed to find that it was just an empty room with no way out of it except how they had come in. This couldn't be all that there was could it? Where was The Well?

"It's starting to look like that those stories might have just been stories after all," Frobisher said sadly.

"I still get paid either way though, right?" Glitz asked hopefully.

"Shut up, Glitz! Have a little class, will you?" Frobisher said in irritation.

"I don't understand. This can't be it. What were all the traps for unless it was to guard something?" Christina asked herself in confusion and disbelief.

Then a sudden thought hit her as she said, "That's it. It must be. There must be a secret room somewhere. There has to be."

She started searching the room for a hidden switch or a hollow sounding spot in any of its walls while Frobisher and Glitz helped her. Neither of them believed that they would actually find anything though. They were almost convinced that there was nothing here but a dead end.

Then Christina sighed and silently sat down in despair. She had found nothing. This couldn't be it. It just couldn't. She pictured Lydia waiting for help in her mind's eye and was resolved more than ever not to quit now. Not this close to the end.

She suddenly got up with renewed hope and said, "I'm not giving up. I'll search through every square inch of this place if I have to. I've got to help Lydia!"

Suddenly Christina and Frobisher found themselves in a new room in the blink of an eye. Glitz apparently had been left in the other room by whatever or whoever had brought them here. Maybe he hadn't been worthy enough to make it this far Christina thought to herself.

"Excellent," A voice suddenly said nearby.

"What?!" Christina asked as Willa materialized out of thin air right in front of her.

Willa smiled at her with a kind smile as she said, "You've passed the final test, Christina."

"What test? What's going on here?" Christina asked.

"I've been testing you of course. You passed the first test of morality when you refused to hurt me or otherwise compromise your principles back on Karn. You passed the test of temptation when the traps in the tower tempted you back to your old life as a thief, but you refused to let it. You passed the test of friendship and responsibility when you told Jacqueline about the disappearance of Davros and Mira despite knowing that you could get through the traps easier and quicker with her help. You passed the final test of faith and perseverance just now by refusing to give up no matter how bad things looked. You've proven yourself worthy at last of finding The Well of Infinity and using its power as you see fit. You've truly changed from the person who you used to be," Willa said smiling with absolute joy on her face.

Christina smiled in relief as she said, "Where is it then? Can I have it now? I need to get it back to my friend as soon as possible."

"You're already found it. It's me. I am The Well. I was hidden in plain sight by the Eternals by being given sentience and a physical form. I was to search out and test anyone who sought to use me to see if they were worthy of obtaining the power of an Eternal. Up until now no one was until I met you because you sought me out for purely unselfish reasons. Congratulations, Christina!" Willa said.

"What? No. You're the leader of the Sisterhood. Frobisher said so," Christina said as she looked at Frobisher questioningly.

"That's true. One of the sisters told me," Frobisher said.

"That was me. You're not the only one who can change their form you know," Willa said laughing.

"You were with us the whole time though," Christina protested.

"You'd think that you would have learned from your friends Rose and Jenny that sometimes someone really can be in two places at once," Willa said.

"So what now? Will you follow me back to Lydia and help her by making her into a full Eternal?" Christina asked.

"Yes, I will if that's what you wish. You have proven worthy of becoming an Eternal so you may gain the power yourself or you can give it to another of your choosing. I will do as you wish as soon as you make it past the trouble ahead. A trouble that I am sorry to say that I can't help you with," Willa said sadly.

Suddenly Christina and Frobisher found themselves back in the previous room that they had been in before again along with Willa and saw Glitz lying unconscious on the ground in front of her. What was going on here?

"What trouble were you talking about, Willa? What's happened to Glitz?" Christina asked.

"I believe that she is referring to me. I could tell from your expression when you first came back to this room that you've found what you were searching for. You will give the power of the Eternals to me or I will kill your young friend here," Magnus Greel said from behind her.

Magnus Greel was an old enemy of the Doctor's from the 51st century who had a rapidly decaying body due to a time travel experiment that had gone terribly wrong. He now had to steal the life force from other in order to survive. He had used his time cabinet to follow Christina and the others here in order to find a more permanent solution to his problem.

Christina and the others turned to see Greel and his cyborg companion who looked like a ventriloquist's dummy in old Chinese clothing, Mr. Sin, standing there with Mira. Mr. Sin was holding a knife to Mira's throat while wrapping his other arm firmly around her neck so as to keep himself perched on her back.

"Give me the power so that I may have a strong healthy body again and unlimited power which I can use against my enemies," Greel commanded.

Christina looked at Mira in terror as she stared between her and Willa who said, "You must decide, Christina. Will you give your power to an insane madman who will use it to slaughter millions or save it to give to your friend?"

"What if I give it to myself?" Christina asked.

"You can't give it to Lydia that way, and you won't be able to use your power to help her either. Even an Eternal can only do so much or Lydia's mother would have changed her into a full Eternal when she was born. Only I can create a new Eternal, and I will only do so once for each person who I find worthy. That's the rules that I have been given by the Eternals. I'm sorry, Christina, but that's the way that it must be," Willa said sadly.

Christina looked at her in despair not knowing what to do. Would she have to lose one friend in order to save another?

Meanwhile back on the surface of Chaos, Jacqueline finally found Davros at last by following his unique biological signature with her enhanced senses to a strange pool. She was completely shocked by what she found there.

It was Davros looking as he had looked as a young man before the accident which had horribly disfigured him. She looked at him in absolute disbelief as he smiled at her.

"How?" Jacqueline asked.

"I recognized the name of the planet Chaos immediately, Jacqueline. This is the home of the Chaos Pool which is where the Key to Time was forged. I dared to hope against hope that if the Key could be created here that maybe the waters of the pool itself might hold some kind of reality manipulating power of their own. I took myself into the pool and concentrated on my old form as hard as I could. When I emerged from the waters, I was my old self again. I'm not twisted and ugly anymore, Jacqueline!" Davros said with joy.

Jacqueline put her arms around him and gave him a hug as she said, "Oh, Davros, you were never ugly except for on the inside, and I've been trying so hard to change that. I just hope that with this change in appearance that the you on the inside will finally finish changing as well."

"Maybe I will if I'm given the proper motivation," Davros said as he moved to kiss her.

Jacqueline turned her head and said, "No, I can't. I do care about you, but I love Anthony. I'm engaged to him not you."

"Why didn't you marry him when you were supposed to then?" Davros asked.

Jacqueline didn't answer and Davros smiled with renewed hope at this as he moved in to kiss her yet again. Suddenly her body went stiff, and she screamed in fear.

"What is it?" Davros asked her in concern.

"It's Mira!" Jacqueline shouted as tears filled her eyes.

"What? What happened to Mira?!" Davros shouted in a blind panic.

"We have to go to her right now!" Jacqueline said as she teleported herself and Davros away immediately while Davros' mind was filled with questions and his heart was filled with absolute terror for his sister.

**Next: What happened to Mira indeed? Find out in the next chapter as we also see who Christina decides to give the power of an Eternal to. Also we'll see more of Jacqueline and Davros and what happens between them next.**


	4. In Search Of The Well of Infinity Part 3

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! **

IN SEARCH OF THE WELL OF INFINITY PART 3

Jacqueline and Davros appeared inside of the temple just in time to see Christina with a hammer in her hand in a tense face off against Magnus Greel who had a gun pointed at her. Mr. Sin meanwhile had a hatchet buried in his head and was lying on the floor motionless nearby.

What drew Davros' attention immediately however was Mira who was also lying on the floor in a half conscious state with blood slowly seeping out of a wound on her throat. Davros' eyes widened in terror as he and Jacqueline immediately ran to her side.

"Mira, can you hear me? Mira?" Davros asked in a frightened voice.

"Davros? Is that really you?" Mira asked in a slurred voice.

Jacqueline gestured at Mira in an attempt to heal her. To her horror however, she soon found that she couldn't!

Greel laughed as he said, "Mr. Sin's knife was covered in particles of Vortex shielding. I came fully prepared to meet your mother, girl, as I know that she keeps a constant eye on the Doctor's former companions. There will be no magical healing of her wounds today. It isn't a mortal wound however. Not yet anyway. I could still save her if Christina will give me the power of an Eternal.

"What happened?!" Davros demanded in a furious voice.

"Christina just saved your sister's life. That's what. She threw a hatchet at the puppet there just as he started to cut her throat," Frobisher said with pride in his voice.

"She's still bleeding a lot though. If we can't get her to see a doctor soon, it'll become serious," Jacqueline said as she inspected the wound while Mira struggled to remain conscious.

"Teleport her away then," Davros insisted.

"I can't. The stupid Vortex shielding particles from the knife are in her bloodstream now. They're blocking me," Jacqueline said in a voice that was near panic.

I could take her somewhere if we can just deal with Pig Face over here," Christina said.

"No one is going anywhere until I get what I want," Greel said obstinately.

Jacqueline tried to attack Greel but groaned as she found out that he too had Vortex shielding on him somewhere that blocked her powers. This man was really starting to get on her nerves.

Greel laughed again as he said, "As you can see, there's nothing whatsoever that you can do to me. Give me the power now, Thief, or watch helplessly as your friend dies right in front of you!"

Christina was filled with anger now as she wanted to pound Greel's head in so much at that moment but knew that he would shoot her down before she could even get close to him. She had to think of something quickly or he would have succeeded in killing Mira.

_Jacqueline, can you hear me?_ Christina thought as loud as she could.

_Yes. Do you have a plan?_ Jacqueline immediately replied.

_Yes. I'll need you to explain it to Frobisher quickly._ Christina answered.

As she silently told Jacqueline what to tell her shape changing ally, Christina said, "Why don't you just give up, Greel? Sooner or later I'm going to break out of this little standoff with you, and I'll be a lot more merciful if you give up peacefully. Not completely merciful but it'll be better than what you'll get if you try to kill me."

"You're very confident of yourself, little thief," Greel said smugly.

"It's not confidence. It's called knowing exactly what I'm capable of, Greel. I'm just that good," Christina said in an arrogant tone.

"I will enjoy wiping that look off of your face," Greel said in a furious voice.

"You're never going to get the chance, dear. I'm going to be the one standing victorious over you in about two minutes, and there's absolutely nothing that you can do about it," Christina said with absolute surety.

"I'll rip you apart!" Greel shouted.

"I'm sure you'll try, Pig Face," Christina said not looking worried by his threats in the slightest.

Suddenly Greel felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned around to see yet another Christina standing directly behind him. He looked at her in complete shock as she said, "Hello, Pig Face."

Then she punched him right in the face!

While he stood there in a daze, the other Christina quickly brought her hammer down hard on the hand that he was holding the gun in and knocked it out of his grasp. Greel howled in a combination of pain and fury even as he tried to quickly dive down and grab the gun where it was still lying near him on the floor.

Before he could reach it though, the Christina with the hammer immediately used it again to hit him right in the face just as he moved towards the gun. She hit him so hard he went flying straight up into the air and hit the nearest wall hard knocking the wind out of him.

Then before he could sufficiently recover his wits she was right on top of him yet again and hit him upside the head with her hammer with so much force that she instantly knocked him out cold.

The Christina with the hammer looked at her watch and said in a triumphant voice, "Two minutes. I told you so, Pig Boy."

Davros immediately grabbed the gun from the floor and pointed it at the unconscious Greel. Before anyone could stop him he fired it point blank into his chest.

"Davros!" Jacqueline screamed.

The second Christina, the one who had been behind Greel, immediately changed back into Frobisher and checked Greel's pulse.

"I don't know whether to be happy about it or not, but he's still alive somehow," Frobisher said.

"He either must be hard to kill or that gun wasn't set on a lethal setting," Christina realized.

"It wasn't. I just wanted to make sure that he stayed unconscious for a while," Davros said.

Jacqueline smiled and hugged Davros tightly as she said with joy, "You didn't kill him."

Davros smiled as he returned her hug. Christina could tell that he was really enjoying being able to act like a normal man once again. She wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or not.

She was still just a bit afraid for Jacqueline if she was being honest with herself. She didn't think that Davros would ever hurt her, but you never could be sure what someone like him might do.

Christina carefully took the gun away from Davros who didn't resist her and put it in her belt. She decided to keep it despite both Giacomo and Donald's objections to them as it might come in handy later. She would leave it on the stun setting and maybe that would keep them both off of her back about it.

"Good work, Frobisher. Thanks for distracting him," Christina said gratefully to her new friend.

"Anytime. Can you get Mira to some help now?" Frobisher said.

"I certainly can. I'll be back for the rest of you in a minute," Christina said.

"I'm going with you," Davros insisted.

Christina hesitated for a moment until Jacqueline gave her an encouraging look. She took a deep breath and decided to trust her friend's judgment of this man once more as she took him and his sister with her and immediately left the planet Chaos with them using her Vortex Manipulator.

She appeared inside of UNIT HQ and was immediately greeted by several soldiers.

"We don't have time for this! Why did you bring her here for?" Davros complained.

"Do you know anyone who knows how to treat Kaleds, Davros? I only know one person who's studied their biology just in case she ever ran across one. Dr. Grace Holloway at UNIT," Christina said brusquely as she defended herself.

Grace was a former companion of the Doctor's and a surgeon who now worked at UNIT HQ as a specialist in alien biology and diseases. She had studied several of the species that the Doctor had come across just in case any of them ever made their way to Earth.

"Christina, it's so good to see you," Grace said as she immediately appeared to help and called the soldiers off.

"I'm so glad that you're here, Grace. My friend here really needs your help. She's a Kaled," Christina said in a worried voice.

Grace looked at her in surprise as she said, "I thought that they were extinct. Of course knowing the Doctor's talent for the impossible, I studied them anyway just in case he ever ran across one."

"We are the last two Kaleds, and I want it to stay that way. You will keep her alive," Davros said making it sound like a command.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Christina said firmly.

"I am just stressing the importance of my sister to her," Davros said in an unapologetic voice.

If only Jacqueline could see him now. Christina thought to herself.

"I assure you that I'll do my best to help your sister. I don't let anyone die if I can help it. Her wound doesn't look that serious yet anyway. I think you brought her to me just in time," Grace said.

"Good," Davros said in a curt manner.

"Friendly fellow, isn't he?" Grace asked perturbed.

"Ignore him. Mira's a sweet girl. You'll like her. That's all that matters," Christina said.

Grace smiled at her and nodded as she immediately ordered her nurses to help her take Mira into an operating room. She then prepared to begin treating her wound right away.

"I'm going to leave you here, Davros, while I go back and get the others. Try not to take over the base while I'm gone," Christina said as she looked at him in utter disdain.

"I'll try and restrain myself," Davros said sarcastically.

"There's no need for that. We're all already here," Jacqueline said as she suddenly appeared next to them along with the others and the unconscious Greel and seemingly dead Mr. Sin.

"I keep forgetting that you can do that," Christina said as she looked at her with wonder.

The soldiers surrounded them yet again until one of them recognized Jacqueline and said, "It's okay. This is the Doctor's daughter."

"I have two prisoners here for you. One of them should be dead but I'm not sure. He seems to have a talent for coming back to life. The other one is just out cold. He's going to be out for a long while too. You can believe me on that. They're both extremely dangerous. You'll probably have them in your files already under the names Magnus Greel and Mr. Sin or Weng Chiang and the Peking Homunculus maybe," Jacqueline said.

"We'll deal with them, ma'am," the soldier said as the two villains were taken away by some of the soldiers.

"Ma'am? I'm not that old. I'm only in my twenties," Jacqueline said with a frown.

"Who can tell with Time Lords? Your Mum looks younger than you do," Christina said teasing her.

"Oh, be quiet, Chrissy," Jacqueline said smiling at her.

Christina's face fell as she said, "Lydia. I've got to get Willa to her to help her. I'm sorry, Jackie. I have to go right now."

Jacqueline smiled as she said, "It's okay, Christina. Mira will be alright. I'm sure of it. I'll let you know how she does."

"Thanks," Christina said as she started to leave.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Christina! There's a little matter of payment to be made first," Glitz said.

"For what? You didn't do anything except lay on the ground out cold during the whole fight with Greel," Christina said in an irritated tone.

"The agreement was that we got paid no matter what," Glitz reminded her.

"Fine. Here's your money. Choke on it," Christina said as she handed the agreed upon amount to Glitz and Frobisher.

"I don't feel right taking this after what happened to Mira," Frobisher said in an uncertain voice.

"What you do with your money is your business. I'm keeping mine though. I am glad that you're going to get to help your friend though," Glitz said as he displayed a spark of decency for a moment.

"Thanks. I appreciate it, Glitz," Christina said glad to see that he wasn't as bad as he sometimes seemed.

"I can't keep this," Frobisher said handing the money back to Christina.

"No. Keep it, Fro. You at least earned it by actually helping me," Christina said smiling at him while Glitz glared at her.

"I'm going to hitch a ride with Glitz back to Ice World when he calls his friend K'anpo Rimpoche and tells him to come here to pick him up. Maybe I'll see you again sometime then," Frobisher said.

"I hope so. It was good working with you. You're pretty good in a fight. Goodbye, everyone. Come on, Willa. We've got to save Lydia. I hope that I'm still in time," Christina said in a worried tone.

"I'm sure she's alright," Willa reassured her as she saw that Christina was shaking with emotion.

Christina smiled at her in gratitude as she used her Vortex Manipulator to take the two of them to Lydia right away. They immediately arrived in the dimension of the White Guardian where Lydia was now living, and Christina rushed to her bedside as quickly as she possibly could.

Christina's heart almost stopped as she saw Lydia lying there not moving. She wasn't even sure that she was still breathing. She couldn't see her chest rising and falling at all.

"Lydia?" Christina said in a completely panicked voice now.

"She's still alive, Christina. Barely," Ishtar said as she suddenly appeared next to her now out of nowhere.

"I thought I had more time than this," Christina said.

"She suddenly got worse while you were gone. She's not finished yet though if you have what you were looking for. Did you find The Well?" Ishtar asked.

"Yes, here she is," Christina said as she gestured towards Willa without taking her eyes off of Lydia.

"You're The Well?" Ishtar asked in disbelief.

"That's me. You want me to make Lydia into an Eternal then, Christina?" Willa asked.

"Yes, please. Hurry before it's too late!" Christina said as she tried not to cry at seeing her best friend lying there looking so still.

Willa gave her a comforting smile as she said, "Your wish is granted. I just needed your permission to make it work."

She began to glow with energy, and then she laid her hands on Lydia's body. Lydia began to glow now too, and she started to scream in pain as her body was rapidly transformed by Willa into that of a true Eternal.

As soon as Willa was finished, Lydia began to breathe normally yet again and the color began automatically returning to her face. Christina sighed in relief and started to smile.

"She's still going to be herself isn't she? She won't change, right?" Ishtar asked.

Willa smiled as she said, "The legends are true. I never changed anyone's personalities or morals. That was the reason that I was hidden in a human form was because the Eternals really didn't like that."

"Good. Not that you were hidden, but that she's going to be the same. I don't want her to change," Ishtar said.

"Don't worry. She'll be just as she was before," Willa reassured her.

As if on cue, Lydia's eyes automatically opened at that moment, and she smiled as she saw Christina and her mother standing there. She immediately wrapped her arms around Christina and embraced her.

"Chrissy! I knew you'd do it. I feel like myself again," Lydia said in a happy voice.

"Are you sure?" Christina asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I know that I should probably feel strange or weird in some way but I don't. I feel like me just like I always did. Don't worry. I'm okay," Lydia said smiling at her.

It was at that point that Christina began to silently cry without even realizing that she was doing it. All of the stress that she had been under until now was finally being released at last.

Lydia smiled at her even as she wiped her tears away for her.

"Thank you," Ishtar said to Christina and Willa as she hugged them both.

"Don't thank me just her. She's the one who passed all the tests that I gave her with flying colors. She's the first truly noble person who ever sought me out. Now I guess I'll go and hide myself once again until the next person comes along searching for me," Willa said.

"Wait. Do you have to go?" Christina asked.

Willa looked at her in puzzlement as she said, "Why would I stay? My job here is done. Your friend is well again. I can't ever use my power to help you again. I told you that."

"I know that. That's not why I want you to stay. It's just that it doesn't seem right to just let you keep wandering around alone forever. How about you travel with me? You could use a friend couldn't you?" Christina offered.

Willa smiled with gratitude as she said, "Thank you. I've never had anyone who sought me out offer me friendship before. Are you sure that you want me with you? What if others come searching for my power? It could get you in a lot of trouble."

"Who would look for you traveling with me though? If anyone does come looking for you, I'll just handle that as it comes. I just wouldn't feel right turning you out on your own. I feel like I owe it to you to take you in at least for a little while. I know you have to be lonely don't you?" Christina asked.

"Yes, sometimes. Sometimes I truly am," Willa admitted.

"It's settled then. You're traveling with me, Lydia, and Giacomo then. I'm sure he'll love you. You're going to love her too, Lydia," Christina said.

Lydia looked uncertain at first and then shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Well, she did just save my life so how I could say no?"

"I promise I'll go the second that any of you don't want me along," Willa said.

"Fine but I don't think that'll happen. Well, come on, Lydia. I want to check on Mira and make sure that she's okay," Christina said.

"Mira? What happened to her?" Lydia asked surprised.

Christina quickly explained even as the three of them went back to the hospital at UNIT HQ. Ishtar was left behind with a huge smile on her face. Her daughter was going to be okay, and she now knew once and for all just how much that Christina really cared about her.

More than that, she knew that Christina could finally be completely trusted now that she had passed the tests of the Eternals. If she could do something like that, then she was definitely ready to help her out with certain tasks that she needed to have performed.

There were certain things that only a former thief could do after all.

As soon as Christina returned to UNIT HQ, she was greeted by a smiling Grace. She decided right away that that was a good sign.

Luckily it turned out that she was right as Grace said, "She's going to be alright. The blade didn't hit any vital arteries, and there wasn't a lot of blood loss. The wound will have to be routinely checked for signs of infection but other than that she should be fine."

"Thank you, Grace. I really appreciate it," Christina said.

"I'm always willing to help, Chrissy," Grace said as she tried not to laugh.

"Now you've got her doing it too," Christina said to Lydia with a groan as she giggled at her.

"Where's Jacqueline. I wanted to thank her for helping me," Lydia said.

"I'm not sure. I saw her here a minute ago. She can't have gone far," Grace said uncertain.

"Don't worry. I'll find her," Lydia said.

Then she grabbed Christina and Willa's hands and said, "Hold on. We're going for a short trip."

"What?" Christina asked.

Lydia snapped her fingers and a second later they were standing outside of a closed door in a different part of the hospital. Christina immediately looked at her with alarm.

"You just broke your promise to your mother not to use your powers," Christina reminded her.

Lydia smiled at her as she said, "Oh, about that. Mum said that by saving you from that horrible woman that I proved that she could finally trust me with them. She said that I could use them from now on but to be very careful with them. She told me if I ever wasn't sure whether I should do something or not that I should ask you."

Christina smiled as she said, "How about that? She trusts me. I'm not sure how to feel about that. I think I like it. I like being trustworthy. It feels good."

"You deserve it, Christina. You've more than proven that you could be trusted with anything," Willa said.

Lydia heartily nodded in agreement as she said, "I wonder where Jackie is. I'm sure that I used my power right. I tracked her right to this room. It looks like a supply closet though. What on Earth would she be doing in there?"

Christina grinned and raised her eyebrows as a certain idea came to mind. Jackie would never do that though, right?

There was no time like the present to find out Christina decided as she tried to open the door. When she found it locked, she shrugged and started to walk away.

Lydia however wasn't giving up that easily.

"There was a time that you would have picked that lock," Lydia said sounding almost disappointed.

"I don't do that anymore," Christina said.

"Then it's a good thing I've got my own way of picking locks now, isn't it?" Lydia said as she snapped her fingers.

The door immediately came open, and they all looked on in shock as they saw Jacqueline and Davros kissing. Christina couldn't help but smirk as she realized that she was right. She had really wanted to be wrong though so much.

What did she see in that man?

Christina gestured to Lydia to quickly close the door before the two of them noticed that they were being watched, but it was already too late. Jacqueline pulled away from Davros with an embarrassed and extremely guilty look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that," Jacqueline said to them in an extremely upset voice.

"Why? Why shouldn't you have done it?" Davros asked in anger.

"I – I can't. I just can't. I'm engaged. I – I'm so confused. I'm so sorry, Davros. I never meant to hurt you," Jacqueline said in tears.

Davros was immediately filled with sympathy for her and his anger left him as quickly as it came as he said, "Jacqueline, it's alright. If you need time to think through how you really feel, I'll wait. I don't want you to do anything that doesn't feel right."

"I don't know how I feel. I just don't. Yes, I do need time to think. I'll get back to you as soon as I can, and I'll let you know what I've decided, okay?" Jacqueline said.

"That's fine," Davros said as he looked at her with worried eyes.

"If I decide to stay with Anthony . . ." Jacqueline said.

"I admit that I really won't like that, but I don't want you to do something that you'll regret either. I just want you to be happy. That's all that matters to me in the end," Davros said with a surprised look on his face.

Christina knew just from the expression on his face that he was surprised to discover that he actually meant that. She supposed that he must really love her after all if he was willing to let her go if it would make her happy.

"Thank you, Davros. Thank you," Jacqueline said as she kissed his cheek and briefly embraced him.

Davros left and decided to go back to his sister's room. Hopefully he would hear from Jacqueline again soon and it would be a favorable answer. He wasn't sure what he would do if it wasn't.

Jacqueline turned to Lydia and said, "I'm glad that you're okay. Christina was worried sick about you."

"I know. She'd be lost without me. Thank you for helping me," Lydia said as she hugged her.

Christina glared at Lydia as the Eternal grinned evilly and said, "What?"

"You know what. I'd be lost without you, huh?" Christina said.

"Yes, you would and you know it. I'd be lost without you too," Lydia admitted.

Christina smiled and finally said, "Well, as long as both of us can admit that to one another I guess it's okay then."

"You two really should have been born sisters. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you were," Jacqueline said as she shook her head at their behavior.

"We are sisters," they both said together without hesitation.

"That's a little strange," Willa said.

"Yeah, it's just a little bit freaky, girls," Jacqueline admitted.

Both women grinned evilly and laughed not caring in the slightest what the others thought. They were mentally linked now ever since Lydia had thought that Christina had died not too long ago, and Lydia had become nearly hysterical over her loss until she had found out that she was alright. They had become so close through that link that they each knew what the other was thinking at all times. Of course that enabled them to speak in unison when they really wanted to in order to freak someone out.

"So where are you three going next?" Jacqueline asked.

"I'm going to reunite with Giacomo. It's time that Willa got to meet him and long past time that I got to see him again. I'm definitely missing him right now. After that though, who knows? Maybe we'll go traveling through time and space and see what trouble that we can get into together," Christina said mischievously.

"Can I come?" Jacqueline asked hopefully.

"Sure. It's to get your mind off of things isn't it?" Christina asked.

"Yes, it is. I just need some time to relax so that I can decide what I really want out of my life," Jacqueline said.

"Well, you've got it then. You're now one of us for as long as you want to be. Let's go join up with Giacomo, and then it's off to have a nice, fun, relaxing, and completely harmless adventure. You're going to love it, Jackie. I guarantee it," Christina said confidently.

Lydia rolled her eyes but said nothing. That would be the day when any day in Christina de Souza's life was ever that simple and ordinary.

**Next: Lydia is proven absolutely right as Christina's nice simple little adventure turns into a complete mess in no time, and Christina and her gang are up to their necks in trouble as they wind up on the run from a murderous alien out to kill everyone on board a ship in the 1920s. To further complicate things, Christina also crosses paths with the legendary thief called the Unicorn. Plus more on the mysterious tasks that Ishtar wants Christina to help her with. What could they be? **


	5. It Takes A Thief To Catch One

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! **

IT TAKES A THIEF TO CATCH ONE

Giacomo Casanova smiled as he stood by 76 Totter's Lane waiting for Christina to arrive. He had decided on this as their agreed upon meeting place on a whim because he had been feeling very nostalgic ever since returning to the twenty first century from the eighteenth. He, Christina, and Lydia had just spent three years together in the eighteenth century wandering the world after Christina had reawakened his memories of being the Metacrisis Doctor's clone who had gone under the Chameleon Arch to become human. They had finally decided to return back to Christina's own time after he noticed that she was becoming homesick and had started to miss her friends especially River Song.

Christina and Lydia had just been shopping for new clothes to wear to see River again when Lydia had become sick. Ever since then Casanova had been waiting to hear some good news about her from Christina. He was elated to hear that Lydia was going to be alright recently because he had grown very close to her during their time traveling the world together. Now both he and Christina regarded her as a sister although she was much closer to Christina than anyone else.

He smiled in anticipation because he couldn't wait for Christina to see his latest gift for her. Well, it was really for the both of them, but he had definitely been thinking of her when he had chosen its latest form.

Just as he thought this, Christina finally arrived along with Lydia, Jacqueline, and Willa. Casanova immediately frowned at the extra passengers. He had just been expecting Lydia. He had planned on doing something special today, and this had just thrown a huge spanner into the works.

"I see you've picked up some new passengers lately," Casanova said to Christina as he tried to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Is that a problem? Jacqueline is a member of your family after all. She's practically your niece. As for Willa, she was lonely and wanted some companionship so I offered it to her. Are you saying that I can't have any friends or family traveling with me now? I won't have you telling me what to do, Giacomo," Christina said indignantly.

"No, Mia Bella. It's not that. You know I'd never try to control you. I know you'd slap me into the middle of the next century if I even tried. Normally I wouldn't care who you brought back but today . . . is special. I had something very special planned for today, and I just wanted it to be us and Lydia there for it. I don't mind Lydia being there, but I really didn't want to do this around anyone else," Casanova said in an apologetic voice.

"Do what?" Christina asked intrigued.

Casanova hesitated for a moment and then decided to proceed with his original plan anyway as he said, "You'll see later. For now though, I have a very special gift for you. This is the third anniversary of the day that we went on our first real date after all."

Christina's eyes widened with surprise as she said, "A gift? Where?"

"Right in there," Casanova said as he pointed into the junkyard owned by I. M. Foreman next to him, the place where his life as an exile from his own people had started several centuries and another lifetime ago.

"My anniversary present is in a junkyard?" Christina said with a threatening look in her eyes.

Casanova couldn't help but smile because he thought she looked even more beautiful somehow whenever she was angry at him. He could see her trying to hide her own smile at the sight of his because she knew what he was thinking and secretly enjoyed having that effect on him.

As if she could ever stay angry at him for long anyway.

"Well, come on, Mia Bella. It's waiting for you. It's right inside those gates," Casanova said.

"What is it?" Christina asked.

"You'll recognize it when you see it," Casanova said with a cryptic smile.

"I hate it when you try to act all clever," Christina said as she gave him a tender kiss.

"No, you don't," Casanova said with a wide smile.

She smiled at him as she entered the junkyard only to gasp in absolute surprise when she finally saw what he had been talking about. She began laughing with joy, and tears started to stream from her eyes.

"What is it, Chrissy? What did he give you?" Lydia asked as she started towards the junkyard.

"It must have been something very special for her to have that kind of reaction," Willa noted.

"Oh, it is. At least it is to her anyway," Casanova said.

Then Christina's two friends finally went past the large gates to the junkyard and saw what she had. They both stopped in surprise, and Lydia began to smile while Willa just looked on in confusion.

"It's a red double decker bus," Willa said in a tone that showed that she was less than impressed.

"It's Christina's flying bus. The one that she first met the Doctor on. She's finally gotten it back. I don't understand how though. It was destroyed in a fight with Axos, "Lydia said.

"Christina has a flying bus?" Willa said in amusement as she began to like Christina more and more the more that she found out about her.

"Yeah, Dad made it fly during one of his adventures, and Christina 'borrowed' it at the end of it," Jacqueline said with a grin.

"How in the world did you bring it back?" Christina asked with joy as she hugged Casanova tightly and kissed his cheek in gratitude.

"This isn't the actual bus. I made it look like it right down to the last detail though because I wanted to give it back to you somehow," Casanova admitted.

Christina smiled even more at that as she said, "So it's a reproduction? You did a really good job. It looks just like it. I never would have known that it wasn't the original."

"Oh, you would have if you had gone inside," Casanova said.

"What do you mean? What are you up to?" Christina asked intrigued.

"Open the doors and see," Casanova said smiling devilishly.

"I don't have the key," Christina said.

"You are the key, Mia Bella. It's keyed to open only to your specific DNA. Only you can open the doors by touching them or snapping your fingers. I got the idea from the original Doctor," Casanova said.

"Is this what I think it is?" Jacqueline asked.

"Oh, yes," Casanova said smiling eagerly.

Christina looked at them both questioningly, and then she snapped her fingers. She looked on in surprise when the doors to the bus swung open and inside was the Console Room of a TARDIS.

Christina smiled at him as she said, "Is this really for me or for you?"

"It's for both of us, Mia Bella. I know you have your Vortex Manipulator that River gave you to travel with, but this is just so much better. This is the only way to travel through time," Casanova said grinning at the sight of his new home.

"So this is going to be our new home together?" Christina asked.

"If you want it to be," Casanova said hesitantly.

"Of course I do," Christina said.

"Molto bene!" Casanova said with joy reminding Christina of the Doctor for a moment.

The two of them kissed passionately then as Christina thought yet again how much alike and yet unalike at the same time that Casanova was to the Doctor or Donald Noble. Living an entire lifetime as Casanova had changed him in many ways from his original personality, but she could still see the Tenth Doctor, the one who she had first fallen for, underneath all of that especially whenever he was extremely happy about something like now.

"Are you two going to waste all day kissing or are we going to give Jackie a much needed vacation from her problems, Chrissy?" Lydia asked with a mischievous smile.

"Chrissy?" Casanova asked in surprise.

"Yeah, she's started calling me that lately even though I keep telling her to stop," Christina said.

"Oh, come on. You know you love it," Lydia said teasing her.

Christina rolled her eyes at her even as Lydia stuck her tongue out at her and laughed. Christina grinned at her affectionately even as she walked past her into the TARDIS.

"You do know that if you were anyone else, I'd punch you in the mouth for calling me that, Lydia," Christina said.

"You'd never hurt me. You admitted yourself that you'd be lost without me," Lydia said.

Christina smiled knowing that it was true and let her mischievous behavior slide just like she always did. Then she found herself in the Console Room at last and looked at it in wonderment. It was just like the Doctor's or Donald's so it didn't really look that different, but yet it still was despite that. This one was hers and Casanova's, and that made it all the more special to her.

"So where are we going on our first trip? Did you have anywhere specific in mind? Someplace romantic perhaps? Is that why you didn't want anyone else to come along?" Christina asked as she smiled at Casanova seductively.

"Yes, I did actually. I'm taking us to a romantic cruise in the middle of the Indian Ocean in 1926 on a ship called the SS Maharani," Casanova said.

"Maharani? Please don't tell me that this has something to do with Marissa. We're not going there to stop her when she's still the Rani are we?" Christina asked suspiciously.

"No, sweetheart. She has nothing to do with anything I swear. It's a complete coincidence. I just picked a ship at random that as far as I know had nothing whatsoever happen to it," Casanova said.

Christina smiled as she said, "Okay, but you'd better be telling me the truth and not just be going there to stop some alien attack."

"I'm not. I'm really not," Casanova said sounding offended.

"Okay, fine. I'll take your word for it then," Christina said as she kissed him.

Jacqueline meanwhile whispered to Lydia and Willa, "I bet you five pounds that we wind up in the middle of an alien attack by the end of the cruise."

"No, I know Giacomo well. He's not lying," Lydia said.

"I know my Dad, Lydia. It's going to happen," Jacqueline said.

"Alright you're on," Lydia said.

"I don't have any money, and I really have no desire to bet anyway," Willa said.

"We'll just make it a no-betting wager for you then. Do you agree with me or not?" Jacqueline asked.

"I don't really know Casanova or your father so I don't know. He does look like he's telling the truth though so I'll side with Lydia," Willa said.

"Oh, you both are going to be proven so wrong," Jacqueline said with an evil grin.

"You are just like your mother, Jackie Tyler," Lydia said shaking her head.

"Thank you," Jacqueline said smiling proudly.

"In this context, that's not a compliment," Lydia said.

The trip to the SS Maharani only took a few moments, and then they were sitting on top of the ship's deck. The monitor showed them that they were now on a large luxurious ocean liner that looked just as extravagant and elegant as Christina had hoped that it would.

"Uh, how are we going to explain a large red bus being right in the middle of this ship?" Lydia asked.

"We went in on stealth mode. We're completely invisible. It takes a lot of power, but it's definitely better than having to answer a lot of needless questions. We'll just leave the bus here locked up after we all get dressed in the latest 20s fashions. Well, you lot will anyway. I'm perfectly fine in my usual clothing. It stands the test of time," Casanova said smugly.

"I think I'll look good as a flapper," Christina mused.

"Why do you think I brought you here for?" Casanova asked smiling evilly.

"You just like seeing me in a dress," Christina realized.

"Yep," Casanova said popping the p.

"You're far too clever for your own good, Paperclip Man," Christina said laughing at him.

As the women dressed themselves in the latest fashions of the time in the Wardrobe Room, Casanova was surprised to see a very familiar person on the monitor. He did a double take as he zoomed in on the face of a young woman passing by in the crowd on the deck.

"It can't be. They never did catch her though so maybe it is," Casanova said as he continued to watch the woman closely and followed her every move.

He was still watching her when Christina came back into the room. She cleared her throat loudly as he never seemed to notice that she was even there.

"Giacomo, are we really going to start our romantic trip together like this with me finding you staring at another woman?" Christina asked in a voice that was filled with anger.

"No, Christina, it's not like that at all. You know that you're the only woman that I care about now. I know that I have this horrible reputation as a rake, but I'm not like that anymore since I remembered you again. You're the only one that I have eyes for now, Mia Bella. The reason I'm watching her is because I know her," Casanova said without turning around to look at her.

"I'd believe you a lot more if you'd stop staring at her and look at me," Christina said but with much less anger in her voice this time.

"I don't want to lose track of her or I might never find her again on a ship this big. She's up to something. I know she is," Casanova said.

"Who is she?" Christina asked now completely interested in studying her alongside him once she was reassured that he wasn't interested in her in anything but a completely platonic way.

"I ran across her once when I met Agatha Christie. She's a famous jewel thief called the Unicorn. Her real name is Ada Mullins. Who knows what name she's given here? She tried to steal a jewel from one of Agatha's friends, but she got away before anyone could catch her," Casanova said.

"Is that all? I thought she was someone dangerous or something. Maybe this is just me being a former thief talking, but why do you care if she goes free or not? She's definitely not your usual type of trouble. I mean you'd usually rather kiss thieves than see them arrested luckily for me," Christina said grinning at him.

"You're not a thief anymore, Christina, and you were never a bad person even when you were. Maybe I should just let her go. It's just that she's one of those loose ends that I never did tie up. I always hate leaving those," Casanova said.

"Giacomo, just ignore her. What's the worst that she can do? Steal some ruby somewhere? Let the local authorities of this time handle it. Just enjoy yourself and forget about her," Christina said.

"I guess you're right. I just have this feeling like I should keep an eye on her, and my feelings are usually right. Besides that, she'll recognize me instantly so it's not like I can really ignore her even if I wanted to," Casanova said sounding disturbed.

Christina nodded as she said, "That's true that it's unlikely that she'd forget your handsome face. Why don't you put on a disguise? Maybe a mustache and a beard? I'd like to see you in one anyway. I think you'd look nice with it."

Casanova frowned at that as he said, "Then I'd look like the Master! Christina, you seriously don't . . ."

That was when he finally turned around to look at her. His jaw hung open, and he couldn't stop staring at her because at that moment he thought she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. Her new flapper outfit looked incredible on her and definitely showed off as much leg as she could possibly get away with in this era.

Christina smiled as she said, "Now that's more like it."

"I – uh," Casanova said trying to speak and not being able to get the words out.

Christina turned his head away from her and said, "Now can you speak?"

"I'm sorry for staring at you like that," Casanova apologized.

"It's alright. I got exactly the reaction that I wanted from you," Christina said smiling in amusement.

"Well, you definitely don't believe in keeping a low profile that's for sure," Casanova said swallowing hard.

"I never did. Now can you look at me without losing all of your IQ points?" Christina asked laughing.

He turned to look at her again and then smiled as he said, "Yes, of course. I was just surprised for a moment there. I really am the luckiest man in the universe, and I don't just mean because you're wearing that outfit."

Christina smiled at him touched by that as she said, "I feel like the lucky one actually to have gotten a second chance like you, Giacomo."

Then she kissed him, and he completely forgot about the Unicorn in that instant. Lydia smiled as she came into the room minutes later to find them still kissing.

"You two never come up for air, do you?" Lydia said in amusement.

"Breathing's overrated anyway," Christina joked as she pulled away from Casanova.

That was when Jacqueline and Willa came into the room. They were all dressed in period outfits and ready to go now.

"Alright then. Allons-y! That's funny. I haven't said that in ages. I guess it's seeing what's her name again," Casanova said.

Christina laughed as she said, "You just told me her name a few minutes ago."

"I know but after kissing you I seem to have forgotten it. You seem to have this hypnotic effect on me, Christina. I automatically forget everything but you whenever I'm around you," Casanova admitted.

"You're going to have to watch that, Giacomo. I want you to pay attention to me, but I don't want to get you killed," Christina said in a serious voice.

"I'll be fine, Mia Bella," Casanova reassured her.

Then the five of them went outside and began to walk around the deck as they tried their best to act like they belonged there. Christina noticed that just as Casanova had feared Ada started to stare right at him almost immediately.

Casanova tried to ignore her and act like he didn't know her, but that didn't deter her at all. She continued to watch him closely for a few minutes, and then she started towards him.

"I knew it," Casanova said sighing.

"Let me handle her," Christina said confidently.

"Alright, I know it's you, Doctor. Don't bother trying to hide it. You finally caught up to me, didn't you? You can't prove a thing though. Do you hear me? You've got nothing to pin on me whatsoever so leave me alone," Ada said in her natural Cockney accent.

"My husband and I don't know what you're talking about, Mademoiselle," Christina said as she began to speak in a thick French accent that completely surprised Casanova.

"Right, like I really believe that. That man's the Doctor, and he works for the police. He tried to accuse me of something once before. I'm completely innocent, Doctor, so you can just push off, okay?" Ada said.

"My husband is not a doctor nor does he work for the police. I am Lady Christina Renard, and this is my husband, Lord James Renard. We neither know nor care to know you, young lady. Now why don't you as you say push off?" Christina said with a slight smile on her face.

"Fine. I'll leave. I'm keeping my eye on both of you though. You're not getting me for anything. Got it? By the way, I liked your old assistant better, Doctor. She had much less of a mouth on her. What happened? Did she finally get sick of you and leave you?" Ada said with a smirk as she walked away.

"I'm officially going on record right now saying that I was wrong, Giacomo. Nail her to the wall. The nerve of that woman! It's obvious that she's here to steal something. I saw how she was acting on the monitor. She was casing the entire area looking for clues to a big payoff," Christina said.

"I didn't know that you could speak French, Christina. You never spoke it at Versailles," Casanova said in surprise.

"I don't speak it that well, Giacomo. I do it well enough to fool someone like Ada who obviously doesn't know any French, but I was kind of embarrassed about doing it around native speakers though," Christina said in an uncharacteristically timid voice.

"Nonsense. Your accent was perfect, and I bet your French is too. You would have fooled me if I hadn't known any better. Do you . . . do you think that you could use that accent from now on?" Casanova asked hesitantly.

"You like it do you?" Christina said with her confidence having returned.

"Oh, yes," Casanova said grinning widely.

"Then, I shall have to keep up the act then won't I, cher mari," Christina said in her French accent.

"Why do you keep calling him your husband?" Lydia asked.

"I'm testing the sound of it, ma soeur," Christina admitted.

"Hey! You don't have to speak French to me," Lydia said annoyed.

"Sorry. I can't seem to get out of that mindset now," Christina said in her natural accent.

"Watch it, Chrissy, or you might turn into someone else," Lydia said worried.

"I'd always be your friend no matter who I was," Christina reassured her.

"Maybe it's best that you just stay yourself. I like you just the way that you are," Casanova said.

"Maybe you're right. I'll keep up the accent around others though as long as we're on this ship," Christina said smiling.

"Is Lady Christina Renard going to be your alias when we go on adventures in the past together from now on then, Mrs. Casanova?" Casanova said with a sly smile.

"That's Lady Casanova. Yes, I think I will use it actually. I like playing that role. I think it's mostly because I like playing your wife. I'd like to do more than just play the role though," Christina said smiling back at him before giving him a tender kiss.

Casanova said nothing but was now more determined than ever to do what he came here for.

"Are those two meant for each other or what?" Lydia whispered to Willa and Jacqueline.

"I believe that they will be married soon. They're already acting like they are now," Willa said.

"Care to bet on how soon?" Jacqueline asked.

"No. No more bets," Lydia said.

"Fine. I'd win anyway," Jacqueline said.

"Would you really? Alright. I bet he asks her to marry him today," Lydia said.

"I don't think so. That's too quick. Dad would take forever," Jacqueline said.

"I say it's today," Lydia said firmly.

"You said it not me. I get five pounds if you're wrong though," Jacqueline said.

"Done. Easiest money I ever made," Lydia said smugly.

Willa just looked at them in disbelief. She couldn't believe that they were taking bets on their friends' lives like that. It just seemed so crass to her. Then again maybe there was more to their behavior than she realized. She decided to keep an open mind on the whole thing until she learned more about her new friends.

Suddenly a scream could be heard coming from several feet away. Christina, Casanova, and the others raced to the scene immediately to find an older woman dressed in fine clothes and wearing expensive jewelry screaming bloody murder.

A much younger man who Christina assumed was her son was standing next to her. He had a strange look on his face almost as if he was in a trance. Christina began to wonder if he had experienced some kind of shock resulting from the theft.

It was something that she had never really thought of when she had been a thief. Now it bothered her that she might have done that to someone who she stole from without meaning to.

"What's happened here, Madame?" Casanova said as he tried on his best French accent in order to go along with Christina's act.

"My diamond. It's been stolen. Someone has stolen it right out of the inside of my coat. I need it back. I must have it back!" the woman screamed in what Christina realized was a voice filled with absolute fear.

"Pardon me, Madame, but why are you so upset? I mean I can understand your sense of loss and outrage, but this goes beyond that. Doesn't it? Why does the loss of your diamond make you so afraid?" Christina asked.

The woman suddenly looked even more afraid if that were possible as she said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not afraid of anything. I just . . . I just want it back. It cost a lot of money, and it's rightfully mine."

Casanova quickly scanned the woman with his sonic screwdriver and said in a low voice, "That's not it at all, is it? You need the diamond to keep your son from changing right here in front of all of these people don't you? How long does he have left without its neutralizing rays to keep him in check?"

"Giacomo, are you saying that these two are aliens in human form?" Christina asked in a low voice where no one could overhear her.

"Yes, they're called Raspirons, and they're the greatest masters of shape changing in the galaxy. They can make themselves look so much like other species both inside and out that most of the time they can't be detected even by the most advanced technology as anything other than what they're pretending to be. They need a constant stream of certain wavelengths of radiation that can only be found in the rocks and minerals of their home world while they're young and still growing however or they can't maintain their disguise. In fact, without constant exposure to those energies they start to become mentally unstable as well. It's already beginning to happen to your son isn't it?" Casanova asked.

The woman's face revealed an internal struggle going on underneath it for a moment as if she was debating with herself whether to trust these strangers or not and then she finally said, "Yes. You must get it back as soon as possible or he'll run amuck all over this ship. He won't be able to control himself, and it won't be his fault. They'll kill him if he changes. You mustn't let that happen. You have to find that diamond from our home world quickly before it's too late. He only has half an hour left at the most before he changes."

"I'll do my best," Casanova said.

"We both will," Christina promised.

Then they were interrupted as the ship detective finally came to interview the woman about the theft. Christina and Casanova both left the scene and immediately started to discuss what must have happened.

"It has to be Ada. It can't be a coincidence that the diamond disappears just as soon as we see her skulking about looking for an easy heist," Christina said.

"I agree. Unfortunately we've lost track of her. She could be anywhere on the ship by now. There is one hope of finding her though. Come on. This has to work," Casanova said as he started messing around with the settings on his sonic.

"What does?" Christina asked.

"Hopefully I can track the diamond by the radiation that it gives off. That should lead us right to her," Casanova said.

He fiddled with the settings over and over again and still could pick nothing up. He began to mumble angrily to himself as Christina said, "It isn't exactly working then I presume?"

"No, I can't pick up anything but I should. It should work no matter how far away she is. The only way that it wouldn't work is if . . ." Casanova said before he suddenly stopped and slapped himself in the forehead.

"I like that. You're already doing the work of shutting yourself up when you babble for me. You're going to be an even better husband than I thought," Christina said with a grin as she gave him yet another hint that she hoped that he would finally take.

"That's it. It must be. Ada must have put the diamond in something made of lead in order to block the radiation like that. If only we had a way of detecting lead," Casanova moaned.

Christina looked at him in disbelief as she said, "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that with all of the uses that you have for your sonic that it doesn't have a metal detector in it?"

"Well, it's not as if I've ever had to look for gold or anything," Casanova said.

"Sometimes I just can't believe how dumb Time Lords can be when they're so smart," Christina said.

"Hey!" Casanova protested.

Christina smiled at him and said, "Sorry. I'm just teasing you. You know that. Luckily for you I do have a metal detector."

"You do? Why?" Casanova asked.

Christina smiled evilly as she said, "I did used to be a thief, dear. Take a good guess."

"Ah. Yeah. I guess that would come in handy to find valuable things quickly. Where is it then?" Casanova asked.

"My old one is back on River and Donald's TARDIS, but I unlike some people thought of putting a metal detector setting on my own little lock picking device," Christina said as she pulled out a small device that looked like a lock pick.

"What is that?" Casanova asked in surprise.

"Your niece Andromeda gave it to me. It's a Cosmic Lock Pick," Christina said as she showed it to him proudly.

"Cosmic? What's wrong with sonic?" Casanova said frowning.

Christina shrugged her shoulders as she said, "Andromeda just wasn't a fan of it I guess. Does it really matter? Now we have a way of detecting where the diamond is. Now we just have to find Ada since there's probably a ton of lead on this ship. I think I can help you there too though. If I know Ada and I should, she'll be using the distraction that this one diamond theft is providing to carry out an even greater score. Now I just need to find out where the vault on this ship is. That's where all the most valuable objects will be stored."

Christina ran off to start quietly pumping several of the richer looking guests for information about the vault by claiming to want to store her valuables there. As she did so, Lydia looked troubled.

"I could probably find Ada quickly with my powers but should I?" Lydia asked out loud.

"Yes, of course you should. I've been trying to with my powers, but I can't for some reason. Maybe you'll have better luck," Jacqueline said.

"I'm just not sure that interfering is a good thing. What if Christina is supposed to do this for herself? Gah! Now that I can finally use my powers, I'm afraid to actually use them because Mum lectured me so much about not abusing them," Lydia said in irritation.

"If you don't do something, that woman's son is going to start attacking everyone on this ship," Jacqueline reminded her.

"I know. I . . ." Lydia said as she hesitated.

"Just hold off on using your powers unless there's no other way. That's probably the best idea. Besides I think Christina will probably be able to find her all by herself anyway at the rate that she's going," Casanova finally said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think I've found out enough to find Ada right away," Christina said as she kissed him after returning from a conversation with a woman who had a necklace with so many jewels on it that it had made Christina sick just looking at it and the temptation that it provided her.

She was never going to backslide though. She had promised herself that, and she was going to keep to that promise no matter what.

"So what did you find out?" Casanova asked as she began to wordlessly pull him behind her while the others waited for them to return at their request.

"I found out exactly where the ship's vault is, and more importantly I found out that the vault has a time lock on it that is due to open automatically in less than fifteen minutes. The timing of the diamond theft can't possibly be a coincidence. It was a distraction to get everyone focused on it and to keep them away from the vault. We have to get there before it opens," Christina said.

"Maybe I did do the right thing after all," Lydia said.

"Let's hope so for all our sakes," Jacqueline said.

Willa meanwhile felt pride in both Christina and Lydia as she had noticed how they had both fought the urge to give into temptation. She was beginning to respect these people that she was with more and more now.

Ten minutes later, Ada distracted the single guard around the vault by pretending to be there to ask him out on a date while wearing heavy make-up to disguise her true features so that she wouldn't be recognized by him later, and then she quickly applied a napkin containing chloroform to his face when he wasn't suspecting it. She smiled in triumph minutes later as the lock opened only to find the surprise of her life waiting for her on the inside.

"In the words of a friend of mine: Hello, sweetie!" Christina said as she stood there inside the vault.

"How?" Ada asked in complete disbelief.

"I'm the best there is that's how," Christina said as she knocked Ada out with a single punch.

"Amateur," Christina said in disdain.

Then she pulled out her Cosmic Lock Pick and used it to quickly find a small box in Ada's coat pocket that she detected was made with lead that was just large enough to contain a diamond. She smiled in triumph as she opened it and discovered the diamond inside.

"And that's why I'm the best," Christina said smugly.

A minute later, she walked away from the area leaving Ada still lying there unconscious right in front of the still open vault door with a huge bag of money in her hands. Christina smiled as she said to a passing ship's officer that she thought that she had heard the sounds of a struggle coming from the area around the vault and asked him to investigate it immediately.

As the officer ran to the scene, Christina met up with Casanova and the others back on the ship's deck and said, "Mission accomplished. I told you I could do it."

"How did you disable the time lock?" Lydia asked curiously.

"It's practically ancient in terms of technology. I just used the cutting torch setting on my Cosmic Lock Pick to silently cut a small hole through the steel wall and got inside that way while Giacomo distracted the guard with one of his long rambles about nothing. Then I replaced the section of the wall and quickly sealed it back up with the torch, and Giacomo finished babbling and walked away. Luckily there was enough air inside to last me until the time lock opened," Christina explained.

"Molto bene! Now all we have to do is give the diamond to the young alien and . . ." Casanova started to say only to be interrupted by several screams nearby.

"Too late," Jacqueline said as an enormous creature with several tentacles came moving towards them at a rapid rate.

"He's after the diamond. He's heading towards it instinctively because he needs it," Casanova realized.

"Will exposing him to its radiation change him back?" Christina asked as she pulled it out of the lead case in her pocket.

"Yes, but not for several minutes. By then, he'll have already killed us all," Casanova said.

"No, he won't," Christina said as she ran in front of the monster with the gun she had taken from Magnus Greel.

"Where did you get that from? Don't!" Casanova said in a panicked voice.

"It's set on stun, Giacomo!" Christina protested.

"No, don't!" Casanova screamed just as she shot the young alien with the gun.

Suddenly the creature became even larger as Casanova shouted, "It eats energy weapons for breakfast! It only makes it stronger!"

"Now you tell me," Christina said in an irritated voice as everyone ran for their lives.

Christina ran for her life as the creature continued to follow her ahead of everyone else because she carried the diamond. She led it on a merry chase through the entire ship as Lydia finally tried to use her powers to stop it.

Then she found to her horror that she couldn't.

"What's going on? My power's not working on it!" Lydia said in alarm as she chased after the creature.

"Mine isn't either," Jacqueline said in surprise.

"It's the Raspiron. They absorb energy of all types even that of an Eternal and a Vortex user apparently so that they can't even use their powers. Your abilities are useless against it," Casanova explained.

"That's why my powers weren't working earlier. It was him doing that. I need to get away from that thing before it starts taking the Vortex energy I need to live," Jacqueline said in fear as she felt herself beginning to grow weaker and weaker.

"Go! Get as far away from it as you can!" Casanova said in alarm as he noticed her becoming paler and paler by the moment.

Meanwhile unaware of all of this Christina was still running for her life from the creature. The only hope that she had left now was to keep one step ahead of it somehow until the diamond's rays transformed it back into its human form.

Then things suddenly took a turn for the worse as Christina was accidently knocked down by a fleeing passenger. She was momentarily knocked senseless as she hit her head on the floor. By the time she recovered, the Raspiron was already right on top of her.

"Christina! No!" Casanova screamed in horror as he tried to use every setting in his sonic screwdriver on it in rapid succession to no effect.

"I'm sorry, Giacomo," Christina said in tears as the creature opened its huge octopus like mouth above her head.

Then it suddenly began to change and became a young man once again. The young man looked at Christina in horror as he said, "Are you okay? Did I hurt anyone?"

Christina smiled and laughed with joy as she said, "Don't worry. I'm fine and so is everyone else. Here. I believe this is yours."

She handed the diamond back to the man who apologized to her profusely and quickly went off to find his mother. Christina just continued to sit there where she had fallen and laughed with joy.

"Christina! Mia Bella!" Casanova said as he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her over and over again.

"We did it, Giacomo! We did it! I didn't think that we could but we saved him," Christina said as he hugged her tightly afraid to let her go.

He started to repeat her name over and over again in an emotional voice as she said, "My Doctor."

"Christina, I almost lost you. I . . . I need to do this now," Casanova said.

He suddenly got down on one knee in front of her and said, "Christina de Souza, will you marry me?"

She smiled at him with absolute joy as she said, "Well, it took you long enough, and I've certainly dropped enough hints about it lately."

"Christina," Casanova said in an upset voice.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Yes! A thousand times yes!" Christina said as she gave him a passionate kiss.

She heard the sounds of clapping behind them and turned to see Jacqueline and Willa standing there smiling at them while Lydia clapped her hands.

"Well, it looks like I won one bet, and you won the other," Lydia said to Jacqueline.

"Let's consider it even then. I never cared about the bets anyway. It was just fun to joke around and not worry about what I'm going to do next for a little while," Jacqueline admitted.

Willa grinned as she realized that she had misjudged her friends and was happy that she had given them the benefit of the doubt. She still had so much to learn about other people it seemed, and these were things that she had definitely not learned by only having been around the worst of them up until now. She hoped to learn more as she stayed among them and was glad that she had decided to do so.

As Christina, Casanova, and the others headed back to the TARDIS, they were suddenly stopped by Ishtar who said, "Congratulations, Christina. I hate to interrupt this happy occasion, but I have a question of my own to ask you."

"You're too late. I'm already marrying Giacomo," Christina joked.

Ishtar laughed as she said, "I'll try to get over my enormous sense of disappointment. Seriously though, I've come to ask you if you'll help me with a very important task."

"Like what?" Christina asked.

Ishtar waved her hand and suddenly they were all back in the TARDIS and it was in the Vortex as she said, "Sorry for the abrupt exit, but only trusted people can hear this. I love the new TARDIS by the way. It looks just like your old friend Iris Wildthyme's on the outside, Giacomo."

"I know. I've been feeling very nostalgic lately," Casanova admitted.

"You know someone else who had their own flying double decker bus?" Christina asked in surprise.

"Yep," Casanova said with a grin.

"Only you could say such a thing, my Doctor," Christina said laughing.

"My Doctor? Why are you calling him that?" Lydia asked in surprise.

"I just started calling him that for some reason. It just feels right somehow. It's much better than just calling him Giacomo. He is the Doctor too after all, and I want to acknowledge that," Christina admitted.

"You can call me by both names, Mia Bella," Casanova said.

Ishtar smiled at them all with fondness as she said, "I never did answer your question, Christina. Well, here it is. Remember that you can feel absolutely free to turn me down. Christina, I want you to help me find several powerful artifacts that have been lost and scattered throughout time and space. Some of them won't be too hard to get back. It's only a matter of finding them. To get some of them back though, you'll have to steal them from their current owners."

"What? No. I can't steal. I won't. I'm sorry but I won't," Christina said firmly.

"Why would you ask her to do something like that? Christina has been trying hard to toe the line lately," Lydia asked her mother in anger.

"You don't understand. I don't want her to backslide, but this is important. You see these artifacts are incredibly dangerous, and they need to be given to me so that I can put them somewhere safe where no one will ever use them. It's a wonder that they haven't been used already. It's only a matter of time until they are, and I don't want that to happen," Ishtar said.

"Just what are these artifacts? What can they do that makes them so dangerous?" Christina asked curiously.

"They're the weapons from the Time Lords of the previous universe. The ones that they used to fight their own Time War. I've only just recently discovered that they were made so well that they survived the destruction of the previous universe and were scattered all across time and space in this one. Some of them even landed in other universes entirely. They're very well hidden and may even have taken different forms from the ones that they originally had and can only be activated by someone who knows how to use them. They're still extremely dangerous however even despite this because just one of them could cause untold destruction. I need you to help me find them and collect them all even if you have to steal them. I don't want you to backslide, but I need your help," Ishtar pleaded.

"I . . . Can I have a little time to think about this?" Christina asked.

"Of course you can. You can feel free to say no. I just needed to ask," Ishtar said.

"I'll let you know my answer in twenty-four hours. I need to talk to someone about this first," Christina said.

Ishtar nodded and then left as Casanova said, "Who are you going to talk to?"

"I'm going to talk to the one person whose wisdom that I trust the most, but never ever tell her that I said that. River," Christina said.

**Next: Christina visits River to ask her advice about what to do. What will River say and will Christina listen to her or go her own way? Also Jacqueline's brief respite from having to make a decision between Davros and Anthony comes to an abrupt end as Anthony arrives from the future to ask Jacqueline to stay with him. I'm sure Davros will have something to say about that.**


End file.
